Main Crossing of Train
Pictures and information from: A History of Corte Madera by Jana Haehl and The Anne T. Kent California Room and the Marin County Free Library
Corte Madera was named from the Spanish words “chop wood” because it was famous for producing lumber from redwood trees. The Corte Madera Redwood lumber was used to build the Presidio in San Francisco. Once the Redwoods were harvested, the local industry became prominently farming and cattle-raising. It is four square miles of land and water tidelands. After the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, a lot of people from San Francisco move to Corte Madera.