There are two towns by the name of Coolidge, the present day town and the one that no longer exists. The ruins of the latter Coolidge were bulldozed about 1930 but the site is marked by the large log hogan that was constructed about 1935 by the federal government. The original Coolidge was first named Crane after a Billy Crane whom at one time acted as a scout for Kit Carson. In the early 1880s the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad constructed a main line across the territory through Crane. The small community's name was changed to Coolidge in honor of Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, a director of the railroad. Years later the railroad transferred its business to Gallup and Coolidge died. About 1926 the town of Coolidge was re-established at its present location. Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

COOLIDGE. 20 mi SE of Gallup on US 66. Newspaper stories refer to a shooting and a hanging at Coolidge as early as 1882. Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, for whom the town was named, served as a director of the old A & P RR, now a part of the Santa Fe Line. Some notables living at, or in the area of, Coolidge in the past include Pistol Navarre, Al Tietjen, Fats Tietjen, Jack Cooper, Frankie Brown, Wilson Brock, Lawrence Elkins, D. J. Elkins, Henry Andrews and Bill Bass and Nestor D Gonzales and Frank Gallegos who were partners in the cattle business. COOLIDGE. Post office 1888 / 1895. Mail to Mitchell; re estabished 1926/ 1957. Submitted by: Samuel W McWhorter