Serving the heart of California since 1892

Author: Bill Coate

Explore Related Stories and Updates

August 12, 2026 • Bill Coate

Remembering Brooke Wissler

Every year in November, my mind is filled with memories of the Mordecai family. This is when the descendants of George Washington Mordecai gather at...

August 8, 2026 • Bill Coate

2026; a year for remembering

Never in the history of Madera have so many milestones emerged to be celebrated in a single year, but this year we are setting a...

August 5, 2026 • Bill Coate

First glimpses of Madera

From the pages of the Fresno Expositor. • • • Oct. 11, 1876 MADERA — The new town laid out by the California Lumber Company...

August 1, 2026 • Bill Coate

How Madera High School came to be

The crowd gathered at the Athletic Hall on Yosemite Avenue for Madera High School’s commencement exercise in June 1903. Folks had to climb the stairs...

July 29, 2026 • Bill Coate

Tragedy struck Madera teenagers on the tracks

It was the middle of August, and in a few days school would begin again for Burt Hambleton and Jimmie Thurman. The summer of 1902...

July 25, 2026 • Bill Coate

The old soldier died on the 4th of July

More than 110 years ago, a huge parade inched down Yosemite Avenue as it always did on the anniversary of our nation’s Independence. Crowds lined...

July 22, 2026 • Bill Coate

John M. Hensley: Madera’s gift to Fresno County

The Sheriff’s granddaughter sat composed and alert while I probed her memory for pieces of Madera County’s past. She told me of her days in...

July 18, 2026 • Bill Coate

Madera embraced the Farnesi family

The woman left her little Italian village in the province of Lucca and walked along the dusty road with a cart full of flowers to...

July 15, 2026 • Bill Coate

Judge Conley didn’t impress this crowd

If they ever establish a Madera County Hall of Fame, Judge William M. Conley will surely be near the top of the list. He became...

July 11, 2026 • Bill Coate

Berenda meant antelope — literally

Once upon a time herds of antelope roamed over much of the San Joaquin Valley. So numerous were they in the 19th century that one...