Corte Madera is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Corte Madera is located 3.25mi south of San Rafael, at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m). The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census.In Spanish, Corte Madera means the imperative command "Chop wood", as in "To chop the wood". The area was famous for producing lumber out of redwood trees which went into the construction of the city of San Francisco.GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4sqmi, of which, 3.2sqmi of it is land and 1.2sqmi of it (28.19%) is water. Corte Madera is one of the richest towns in Marin.HistoryThe first post office in Corte Madera opened in 1878, and closed in 1880. The Adams post office opened in 1902, and changed its name later that year to Corte Madera. The name Adams honored Jerry Adams, its first postmaster. Corte Madera incorporated in 1916.The town of Corte Madera is on part of Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio granted to John Reed in 1834 by Mexican Governor José Figueroa. Reed quickly took to the lumber industry, logging the area's immense supply of redwoods and shipping the lumber to San Francisco by way of Corte Madera Creek — some of this wood was used to build the Presidio in San Francisco. And the town kept growing.
