Fredrick Tibbits and Louis O’Neill

Fredrick Tibbits and Louis O’Neill. In the 1880s coal was being mined in the hills of southwest Fresno County. In 1888, the Southern Pacific Railroad extended its line from Goshen to Alcade, south and west of present-day Coalinga. The San Joaquin Valley Coal Mining Company developed a mine on the Westside, behind what is known as 25D today. It became quite an industrial center, but the coal was not sufficiently aged to be of competitive value. , Coalinga didn’t really begin to develop until after oil was discovered and the first oil well was brought in, in 1896. Then Fredrick Tibbits opened a saloon, the “Cornet”, and Louis O’Niell built a store. By 1900, Coalinga could boast about two dozen frame buildings. Tent and shanties also dotted the town site. The oil boom began. The town became known as a freewheeling boom town. Front Street, better known as Whiskey Row, had thirteen saloons that all did a rousing business. Many of them were also elaborate gambling dens and sites of many fistfights, brawls and shoot-outs. All the stuff of legendary frontier lore.