Book Synopsis
Coalinga, California, began in 1889 as a supply center for a coal mine and became a boom town when oil was discovered nearby in 1896. Seemingly overnight the oil district attracted wildcatters who explored and proved the field making it by 1910 the largest producing oil field in California. As the supply center for this district Coalinga's population soared from a couple of hundred in 1900 to over 6,000 in 1910 making it the second largest city in Fresno County. | One consequence of this explosive growth was the desire of some residents to separate those who worked in the oil fields from their hard-earned money, so Coalinga attracted liquor dealers, gamblers, and fallen women. Those who did not partake of these vices sought to make the town more respectable by incorporating in 1906, supporting anti-gambling candidates, limiting the number of liquor licenses, and confining the saloons to a single block along Front Street called Whiskey Row. Despite a half dozen major fires valiantly battled in a community with inadequate water supplies the liquor interests always seemed to rebuild. Law enforcement had its hands full enforcing ordinances that curtailed hours and trying to protect the customers of these establishments from themselves and from their exploiters. As the temperance movement gained traction in the late 1910's and Prohibition became a reality in 1920 the liquor trade went underground and bootlegging became common. To combat this Coalinga's leaders hired undercover agents to gather evidence. Judges imposed stiff fines and jail time on the miscreants. Ultimately good order prevailed and the notorious Whiskey Row was tamed. A fire in 1930 reduced to ashes almost every building on the Row and the Great Depression prevented any part of it from being rebuilt. | Whiskey Row is today a memory of Coalinga's frontier history. This book provides biographies of Whiskey Row's businessmen, and recalls the nefarious activities associated with these saloons.