Coachella, California
Coachella, California
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2290560

Coachella, California

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2290560

Coachella, California

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Coachella, California

Coachella (/ˌkəˈɛlə/ KOH-ə-CHEL, commonly /kˈɛlə/ koh-CHEL) is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. It is the namesake and easternmost city of the Coachella Valley, in Southern California's Colorado Desert. Originally a railroad town, Coachella is a prominent hub for agriculture and shipping across Southern California and the Western United States.

Coachella had a population of 41,941 in the 2020 Census. The city is officially bilingual in English and Spanish, with 90% of people speaking Spanish.

The city was founded as Woodspur in 1876, when the Southern Pacific Railroad built a rail siding on the site. In the 1880s the indigenous Cahuilla tribe sold their land plots to the railroads for new lands east of the current town site, and in the 1890s, a few hundred traqueros settled along the tracks. In 1901, the citizens of Woodspur voted on a new name for their community and at a town hall meeting settled on "Coachella".

The origin of the name Coachella is unclear. Some locals believe it was a misspelling of conchilla, a Spanish word for the small white snail shells found in the valley's sandy soil, vestiges of a lake that dried up over 3,000 years ago.

Coachella began as a 2.5-square-mile (6.5 km2) territory gridded out on the mesquite-covered desert floor. Coachella became a city in 1946. During the incorporation voting process, the first city council was tentatively elected.

In the 1950s Coachella begin to expand into its range, about 32 square miles (83 km2), an area which contained large year-round agricultural corporate farms and fruit groves, particularly of citrus (lemons, oranges, grapefruit) and date palms.

By the 1980 census, Coachella's population had reached at least 10,000 due to relatively slow population growth. Due to a high percentage of Hispanics in the city, Coachella was a scene of Chicano political activism. The agricultural area surrounding Coachella was where the United Farm Workers union staged strikes and protests, including visits by UFW leader César Chávez in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2018, Harrison Street (the main street in town) was renamed for him.

In 1995, state and federal officials designated Coachella as part of the Coachella Valley Enterprise Zone to boost economic activity and entice businesses to relocate to this rural city which was once home to several fruit shipping plants.

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