Economic dislocation hit Madera in the 1930s

For The Madera Tribune

Sixth and D Streets in Madera, scene of a powerful water fight between out-of-town protesters and Madera firemen.

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The decade of the 1930s was as stressful for Madera as it was for the rest of the country. The depression hit with full force, and trouble was in the air.

Lumber, the industry that gave the town its birth and its name — went out of business. In 1931, the Madera Sugar Pine lumber company succumbed to the hard times and had to close its doors for good. For the first time in its history, Madera had no lumber mill.

Economic dislocation followed; people got nervous, and violence reared its ugly head. It all began in Madera when Mayor John B. Gordon received correspondence in December 1931, from a group calling itself the Unemployed Councils of California.