Coachella is an incorporated city in Riverside County, California, and the easternmost city of the Coachella Valley, a desert region of Southern California that takes its name from the community itself. Situated in the Colorado Desert about thirty miles east of Palm Springs and just southeast of Indio, Coachella anchors the valley's agricultural economy and serves as a shipping and distribution center for produce grown across the surrounding farmland. Its population of roughly 42,000 makes it one of the larger cities in the eastern valley. The city's origins lie with the railroad. Jason L. Rector, regarded as the town's founder, established a mesquite-wood terminal on a Southern Pacific Railroad siding, where lumber was loaded for market in Los Angeles. The stop was first called Woodspur before residents sought a more distinctive name. By local account, the intended name was "Conchilla," a Spanish reference to the shells found in the area, but a printer's error rendered it "Coachella" — and the name stuck, later extending to the entire valley. Agriculture has long been the community's economic backbone. The valley's arid climate proved ideal for date palms, and the commercial date industry took root in the early twentieth century. Today Coachella remains a hub for dates, table grapes, citrus, and vegetables, with packing houses and distribution facilities tying the city to markets across the West. Culturally, Coachella is a predominantly Hispanic community with deep roots in the region's farm-working families, and it has a growing profile as the namesake of a valley known worldwide for its music festival and desert resorts. The Salton Sea lies to the south, and the surrounding landscape offers access to desert recreation. The city itself retains a working, close-knit character distinct from the resort communities farther west.