Famoso is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Kern County

Kern County, California

Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located on Poso Creek 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south-southeast of McFarland

McFarland, California

McFarland is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California, United States. McFarland is located south of Delano, at an elevation of 354 feet . The population was 12,707 at the 2010 census, up from 9,618 at the 2000 census.-History:The first post office opened in 1908. McFarland...

, at an elevation of 427 feet (130 m).

Famoso is located at the junction of State Route 99

California State Route 99

California State Route 99 , commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 , is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley...

 and the eastern terminus of State Route 46

California State Route 46

State Route 46 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a major crossing of the Coast Ranges, connecting SR 1 on the Central Coast near Cambria and US 101 in Paso Robles with SR 99 at Famoso in the San Joaquin Valley. East of Paso Robles, where it carried U.S...

. The U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System shows a feature ID of 242167 for the community, making its existence official.

The Spottiswood post office opened in 1888, changed its name to Famoso in 1895, closed for a period in 1919, moved in 1940, and closed for good in 1946. The name Poso was bestowed by the Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

 when it reached the site in the 1870s.

Early in its history, the city of Famoso was also known as Pozo, California. This name conflicted with the community of Pozo

Pozo, California

Pozo is an unincorporated area in along the former Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route, in San Luis Obispo County, California. The closest communities appearing on road maps are California Valley and Santa Margarita...

 along the Butterfield Overland Mail

Butterfield Overland Mail

The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...

 stagecoach route in San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...

. The route of an early irrigation project, the Pozo Canal, is visible from aerial photos of this area. Poso Creek flows to the northwest, passing immediately north of town.

The eastward continuation of SR 46, Famoso Woody Road, leads into the Sierra foothills, passing through the Mount Poso Oil Field

Mount Poso Oil Field

The Mount Poso Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Kern County, California. Discovered in 1926, and relatively close to exhaustion with less than three percent of its original oil remaining, it is the 21st largest field in California by...

 on the way. The westward continuation leads to the city of Paso Robles, California

Paso Robles, California

Paso Robles is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Paso Robles is the fastest growing city in San Luis Obispo County: Its population at the 2000 census was 24,297; in 2010 it recorded some 29,793 residentsLocated on the Salinas River north of San Luis Obispo, California,...

 in San Luis Obispo County.

The town is famous for its nut groves and especially the race track - Auto Club Famoso Raceway (Famoso Raceway

Famoso Raceway

The Famoso Raceway dragstrip is located north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships...

).

The ZIP Code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 is 93250, and the community is inside area code 661

Area code 661

North American area code 661 covers the majority of California's Kern County, as well as part of Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, and Tulare County...

.