Fluor's first projects were in constructing and grading roads, but by the 1920s it was known for building public facilities, industrial complexes and serving a growing California oil and gas industry. It started building office and meter manufacturing facilities for the Southern California Gas Company in 1915, as well as a compressor station for the Industrial Fuel Supply Company in 1919. Fluor built the first "Buddha Tower" in 1921 in Signal Hill, California, for the Industrial Fuel Supply Company. The Buddha Tower was a design of water-cooling tower named after the Buddha temples they resemble. The following year Fluor was awarded a contract by Richfield Oil to build a 10,000-gallon-per-day gasoline plant.