Mike Purl: A man for all seasons
I have been thinking about Mike Purl a lot over the past few months. In fact, from the time I first learned about the struggle he was facing, I thought about him almost every day. I don’t remember when I first met him, but I think it was when he joined the Madera Method Wagon […]
The Early Days of Madera’s Webster School
In 1927, the Webster School student body numbered 20, including three children of the teacher, Mrs. Mary Alice Cunningham Pitman. Shown here with their mother and their classmates are Robert Pitman (first row, far left), Rinard Pitman (second row, second from the left), and Willard Pitman (third row, fourth from the left). Webster School still […]
Sheriff challenged from the inside
In 1927, the people of Madera County elected Welton Rhodes as their sheriff. In the years that followed, that public confidence proved to be well-placed. Rhodes provided law and order without favoritism for two terms. During that time, he appointed W.O. Justice as one of his deputies, an act that he was later to regret. […]
Madera’s Oil Dud
Maderans have always been open to economic innovation, no matter how risky. Gold, silver, and copper mining have lured fortune hunters to the hills and streams of Madera County. In the 1930s, it was black gold in the flat lands that got some folks excited. Two or three wells were drilled in the southern part […]
Airmail in Madera
Airmail to Madera was not exactly a new thing. In 1912, the city was the recipient of the nation’s first airmail delivery when Glen Martin zoomed over the city and dropped a bundle of newspapers from the sky onto Yosemite Avenue. Airmail never left Madera, however, until Postmaster Murphy decided to change that in 1938. […]
Madera’s gateway to Yosemite
During the 1930s, Maderans advertised that the best way to Yosemite National Park was still through their town. For several years, Madera had a monopoly on transportation to the Park. The road from Madera to Yosemite was built in 1877, and stages used that route until the Southern Pacific laid tracks from Berenda to Raymond […]
Dust Bowl Refugees in Madera
In the 1930s, Madera County became home to large groups of refugees from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and Arkansas. As a result, most schools had to develop special “migrant education” facilities for the children of the down-and-out transients. Shown here is the migrant education “bus” for La Vina School. These children were on their […]
Madera’s first murder of a police officer
On November 10, 1923, Clarence Pickett (far right) became Madera’s first police officer to die in the line of duty. Spotting a Dodge coupe with four men in it traveling north toward Berenda, Pickett pulled the car to the side, He had recognized it as a coupe that had been reported stolen. The lawman got […]
The Prohibition hits Madera
John Barnett had just been elected Sheriff of Madera County when Prohibition became the law of the land, although it didn’t mean that all Maderans followed the law. Moonshine ran freely, especially in the mountain areas, and Barnett did his best to stamp out the illicit liquor traffic. He, nevertheless, had his hands full. After […]
Madera boy hit it big in Hollywood
The atmosphere in Madera County’s Superior Court was tense on Jan. 19, 1924. Several very important people had gathered there on that day to witness the outcome of a fight that was to settle the fate of a young movie star from Madera. Judge Stanley Murray was set to decide who would have custody of […]
