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C+History
History · Coalinga

Coalinga’s post office opened in 1889, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #197 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Coalinga was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Coalinga Polk Street School. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1910.

1889first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
14famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coalinga’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Coalinga began

When was Coalinga founded?

1889

The Coalinga post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 4,199 in 19102020 census: 17,590137 years

How historic is Coalinga?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Coalinga post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Coalinga’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coalinga is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #197 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coalinga’s overall grade.
Founding era1889, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.2% of homes (±2.6) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 77%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Coalinga’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (72% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Coalinga’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew 6-fold.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1910, drew every building in Coalinga.Famous sons and daughtersJo Stafford, Hal Finney and 12 more were born here.
★ What stands out · People over time

Coalinga, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,0001920194019601980200020204,199 in 1910Low: 2,851

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew 6-fold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coalinga’s Wikipedia page.

Every building

Coalinga, building by building, 1905–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Coalinga fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

14 famous people were born in Coalinga

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jo StaffordAmerican singer · b. 1917
Hal FinneyAmerican software developer · b. 1956
Bill JonesAmerican politician · b. 1949
B
Buddy McDonaldAmerican child film actor · b. 1922
D
Daryl PattersonAmerican baseball player · b. 1943
D
Don BrackenAmerican football player · b. 1962
The story

How Coalinga came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coalinga.

Read it all →

Legendary bandit Joaquin Murrieta was killed in 1853 at his headquarters, Arroyo de Cantua, north of Coalinga. California Historical Landmark #344 marks the approximate site of where he was slain, near the junction of present-day State Route 33 and Route 198.

Chapters19th century20th century1983 earthquake2022 water shortage

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coalinga, 1889 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Coalinga post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archiveColinga [sic], California
  5. 1914In the archiveCoalinga"T's"
  6. 1917Born hereJo Stafford is born here
  7. 1922Born hereBuddy McDonald is born here
  8. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1949Born hereBill Jones is born here
  10. 1956Born hereHal Finney is born here
  11. 1972In the archiveAERIAL OF CATTLE ON HUGE FEEDLOT. (FROM THE DOCUMERICA-1 EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN …
  12. 21st century
  13. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 17,590
By decade

Coalinga, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Colinga [sic], California1909Colinga [sic], CaliforniaColinga [sic] oil field1909Colinga [sic] oil fieldCoalinga"T's"c. 1914Coalinga"T's"
1920s–1960snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s4 items
AERIAL OF CATTLE ON HUGE FEEDLOT. (FROM THE DOCUMERICA-1 EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE FICHE NUM…1972AERIAL OF CATTLE ON HUGE FEEDLOT. (FROM THE DOCUMERIC…OIL WASTE ON BARREN HILLSIDE1972OIL WASTE ON BARREN HILLSIDEOIL WASTE ON BARREN HILLSIDE1972OIL WASTE ON BARREN HILLSIDEPLANES (USED BY CALIFORNIA FARM COMMISSION) DROP POISONED GRAIN ON ACTIVE SQUIRREL COLONIES IN ORDER TO PROTECT AREA BA…1972PLANES (USED BY CALIFORNIA FARM COMMISSION) DROP POIS…
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
CVPSouthernCanalsUSBRDate?CVPSouthernCanalsUSBR
Today12 recent
Coalinga aerial2024Coalinga aerialPistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stierch 032023Pistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stier…Pistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stierch 022023Pistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stier…Pistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stierch 012023Pistachios in Coalinga - September 2023 - Sarah Stier…Los Gatos Canyon Plane Crash Victims Burial Site2023Los Gatos Canyon Plane Crash Victims Burial SiteBrightsource Energy solar plant aerial view, 20232023Brightsource Energy solar plant aerial view, 2023Aerial view of Coalinga (California) in July 20222022Aerial view of Coalinga (California) in July 2022Aerial view of Coalinga (California) in July 2022 (2)2022Aerial view of Coalinga (California) in July 2022 (2)Coalinga, California2015Coalinga, CaliforniaCoalinga, California2014Coalinga, CaliforniaNew Coalinga Municipal Airport - California2006New Coalinga Municipal Airport - CaliforniaCoalinga Municipal Airport (Old) - California2006Coalinga Municipal Airport (Old) - California
On the map

Coalinga on the map, 1944 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coalinga. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Coalinga on the 1944 USGS mapCoalinga on the 1956 USGS mapCoalinga on the 1971 USGS map1944Coalinga sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coalinga.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Colinga [sic], California
Retake this viewColinga [sic], California, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coalinga’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Coalinga

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Coalinga Polk Street School
Coalinga Polk Street School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
All 1 listings
Coalinga Polk Street SchoolBuilding · listed 1982

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Coalinga’s post office has been open since 1889.

Gone or out of use
Coalinga Polk Street Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Coalinga
Warthan Canyon

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Coalinga’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewColinga [sic], California: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Coalinga’s history

What year was Coalinga founded?

The Coalinga post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Coalinga rank for history?

Coalinga is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #197 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Coalinga?

One place: the Coalinga Polk Street School (listed 1982).

How old are the homes in Coalinga?

7% of Coalinga’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1984.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.