Established near the North Dakota border around 1906, Coalridge began as a mining town located approximately one mile from the town’s present site (which was established in 1924). George Onstad purchased the mine around the same time, and he was instrumental in building the new community. At one time, the town included a bank, school, drugstore, lawyer’s office, general store, church, newspaper, and a post office that operated from 1907 to 1974.