Madera County History

Madera is the Spanish word for "lumber", the first industry in the County. Part of the historic Sugar Pine Railroad remains as a tourist attraction. A huge flume once ran from the high Sierra Forest area down to Madera. One of the engineering marvels of early California, its history is preserved in articles and photos in the County Museum located in the beautiful old granite Madera Courthouse.

The growth of the territory known as Madera County has progressed in waves. The first small wave of men was composed of a few explorers, soldiers, trappers, and Spanish speaking settlers with Mexican land grants. These men came in the first half of the last century, and few stayed longer than a few months.

The discovery of gold brought the first big wave of immigrants, most of them placer miners who worked along the streams that were rich in precious metal, and soon a new mining era came with the development of hard-rock ledge mining for gold, silver and copper. The mountain area is rich in the history of the 1859 California Gold Rush towns, with such names as Coarsegold, Finegold, Grub Gulch, Ahwahnee and Nipinnawassee. Panning for gold is still popular for both fun and profit, gold panning contests are held frequently in Ahwahnee and the gold panning champion lives in this area.

In 1919, a group known as the Gold Chain Council was formed to get what was then a dirt road of various qualities, conditions and dimensions made into a State highway. It obviously was successful, and continues to this day as the oldest highway association in California.

The State Legislature officially named Highway 49 the "Mother Lode Highway" in 1921. At that time, it extended south only as far as Mariposa, and the section from Mariposa to Oakhurst was known as Bootjack Road. In 1969, the State Highway Commission and State Legislature finally incorporated Bootjack Road into Highway 49. Oakhurst rightfully received recognition and was legitimized as the southern terminus of the scenic and famous route which winds its way through eleven counties.

Gold fever hit the hills here from 1849 to 1850 but the actual gold rush came more slowly. Previously, no one had any good reason to explore the mountains and they had remained virtually uninhabited wilderness.

The records show that one early resident of the area, Jim Savage, employed Chinese to work the San Joaquin River for him. At first, Jim was involved in fighting the Indians, but as the area became more populated, he made friends with them, even to the extent of marrying at least five Indian girls, one from each tribe. He is given credit for the discovery of Yosemite Valley on March 27, 1851, and named it after the tribe which inhabited it.

Legend has it that at one time there were 5,000 residents in Grub Gulch and 10,000 in Coarsegold. However, local records do not confirm these figures. An 1853 Army report placed a considerable number of Chinese at Millerton and in Coarsegold Gulch in 1854. Later 2,000 were reported to have worked in the Raymond area. There is considerable evidence of Chinese labor in that area; miles of stone walls meander through hills between Raymond and Mariposa. Local ranchers hired the Chinese to clear their fields of rocks and to use them for boundary fences. They were built without mortar and still stand today

In 1855 Fresno became a county of its own and what is now Madera county separated from Mariposa county.

Madera County, situated in the heart of California, counts one of the Nation's gems, Yosemite National Park, as one of the county's assets, making Madera County one of the best choices to live, learn and earn a living.

Rich in agriculture with a variety of crops, Madera County is also rich in new business development, economic growth, lower crime and educational excellence.