Coalinga

Named on an 1896 map showing the railroad tracks leading to the Coal Mines in the community marked as Los Gatos west of Coalinga. Coalinga began in 1891 when the town was laid out by Southern Pacific Railroad engineers after the discovery of coal used for coaling trains. This wasn't really coal, but oil saturate shale. The city was incorporated in 1906. Legend has it during those days there were three coaling stations; stations A, B and C. The name Coalinga is derived from mixing Coaling with Station A to arrive at the naming of the city.