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C+History
History · Madera

Madera dates to 1876, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #279 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Madera was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Madera County Courthouse. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.

1876founded
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
22famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Madera began

When was Madera founded?

1876

Madera dates its founding to 1876 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 217 in 18802020 census: 66,224150 years

How historic is Madera?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Madera’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Madera is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #279 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Madera’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.2% of homes (±1.1) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.1 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 67%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madera’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (64% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1876.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Madera’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1888 to 1912, drew every building in Madera.Famous sons and daughtersLee Evans, Wally O'Connor and 20 more were born here.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1981. Watch Madera change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Madera’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Madera’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPromoter Thomas Hughes: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Madera, building by building, 1888–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Madera fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

22 famous people were born in Madera

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Lee EvansAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1947
W
Wally O'ConnorAmerican swimmer and water polo player · b. 1903
T
Tony RomanoAmerican musician · b. 1915
María Elena DurazoAmerican labor leader and politician · b. 1953
Robert Peter AguilarUnited States federal judge · b. 1931
V
Vern PoythressAmerican theologian · b. 1946
The story

How Madera came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Madera.

Read it all →

Madera was founded in 1876 as a lumber town at the terminus of a flume constructed by the California Lumber Company.

The town's name, meaning "wood" in Spanish, reflected its timber-based economy.

In October 1876, company president William H. Thurman auctioned the first town lots, and Capt. Russell Perry Mace erected Madera's first building—the Yosemite Hotel—to serve travelers bound for Yosemite Valley.

A sixty-mile wooden V-flume carried rough-cut lumber from sawmills in the Sierra Nevada to Madera's railroad planing mill. The first boards traveled the flume in 1877, the same year Madera's post office opened.

ChaptersEarly Beginnings and the Lumber Era (1876–1931)The Madera Sugar Pine Company and the Flume's Legacy (1899–1931)Agricultural Transformation (1930s–Present)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Madera, 1876 to 1953

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876
    FoundingMadera is established
  3. 1890In the archivePromoter Thomas Hughes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Born hereWally O'Connor is born here
  6. 1915Born hereTony Romano is born here
  7. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1947Born hereLee Evans is born here
  9. 1953Born hereMaría Elena Durazo is born here
By decade

Madera, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Promoter Thomas Hughes1890Promoter Thomas Hughes
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Madera Water Tower2020Madera Water TowerMadera - Water Tower2020Madera - Water TowerMadera - Olive Ave2020Madera - Olive AveMadera - Cleveland Ave 22020Madera - Cleveland Ave 2Madera County Economy2019Madera County EconomyCity of Madera Water Tower2016City of Madera Water TowerWine label, K. Arakelian Inc., California Belle, California Port, Madera Winery2015Wine label, K. Arakelian Inc., California Belle, Cali…American flag barn2013American flag barn
On the map

Madera on the map, 1922 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Madera. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Madera on the 1922 USGS mapMadera on the 1947 USGS mapMadera on the 1963 USGS mapMadera on the 1981 USGS map1922Madera sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Madera.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Promoter Thomas Hughes
Retake this viewPromoter Thomas Hughes, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Madera’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Madera

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Madera County Courthouse
Madera County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Neo-Classical1
Madera County CourthouseNeo-Classical

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Madera, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,0001880190019201940196019802000202066,224

Grew from 217 people in 1880 to 66,224 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Madera’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Eastside SchoolschoolLincoln Grammar SchoolschoolMadera SanitariumhospitalSunbeam Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Madera
Arbor Vitae

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Madera AcresIts storyDParkwoodIts storyD−ParksdaleIts storyD−

Questions about Madera’s history

What year was Madera founded?

In 1876, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1880 counted 217 people here.

How does Madera rank for history?

Madera is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #279 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Madera?

One place: the Madera County Courthouse (listed 1971).

How old are the homes in Madera?

4% of Madera’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1991.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.