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Category: History

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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 • For The Madera Tribune

Local Legends: How Nora Salazar helped shape Madera

For Lenora “Nora” Salazar, success was never measured by awards or accomplishments. It was measured by the lives she touched. Salazar was more than a...