[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CITY OF COALINGA

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise to recognize the 100th 
anniversary of the city of Coalinga, one of the few California cities 
that was founded as a mining boomtown and survived.
  The city originally known as ``Coaling'' was a sleepy coal mining 
town until oil was prospected in the region as early as 1865 by 
Southerners displaced by the Civil War. However, aside from being used 
to control dust on the roads and as a pitch for roofing, there was 
limited use for petroleum in those days. Limited uses, coupled with 
transportation challenges, caused early interest in oil to die down 
considerably. In 1891, the Southern Pacific Railroad purchased the 160-
acre Melville Curtiss homestead and laid out the town site that became 
Coalinga. Local folklore attributes the desire for better musical 
effect for the addition of the final ``a'' and the eventual adoption of 
the town name, Coalinga. By the time the city was incorporated on April 
3, 1906, the interest in oil had risen again.
  In 1909, the Silver Tip well broke loose in the greatest gusher 
recorded in California at that time; spraying 36,000 barrels of oil in 
a 72-hour period. The emergence of Coalinga as an oil boomtown caused 
enough excitement that the Los Angeles Stock Exchange was shut down for 
a day so that the financiers of California could go witness and 
experience the boom for themselves. At its peak, the Silver Tip well 
produced 10,000 barrels of oil a day.
  Coalinga's thriving oil fields of that time were to produce 
personalities and companies that were to become the giants of the 
industry. R.C. Baker, the founder of Baker Oil Tools, first honed his 
trade in Coalinga. Republic Oil Field Supply can also trace its 
beginnings to the city. The formula for world famous A&W root beer was 
first concocted in downtown Coalinga. Perhaps most famously, Coalinga's 
oilfield workers fought and won the industry's first 8-hour workday.
  On May 2, 1983, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake altered the face of 
Coalinga. All the brick buildings constructed during the 1900s boom 
toppled or they had to be demolished. A large slice of the character 
and charm of Old Coalinga was lost. However, the town's residents 
demonstrated remarkable unity and determination in putting forth the 
hard work to make sure that Coalinga continues to grow in spite of the 
earthquake. Today, the former boomtown with the old brick buildings 
that was left reeling after the 1983 earthquake is a thriving city that 
is primed for even greater residential and business growth in the 
future.
  For the past century, the city of Coalinga has served as a testament 
to the importance of community, optimism, and cooperation. As the 
residents of Coalinga work together with great pride to make their city 
a better place to call home, I congratulate them on their centennial 
anniversary and wish them another 100 years of good fortune and 
success.

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