Raymond, California
unincorporated community in Madera County, California
Raymond (formerly, Wildcat Station) is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located 22 miles (35 km) north-northeast of Madera, at an elevation of 948 feet (289 m).
Raymond has fewer than 1,000 residents. It is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Madera at Green Mountain Road and Road 600. The community is part of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ZIP Code is 93653. The community is inside area code 559.
History
The area was named either for Israel Ward Raymond, a park commissioner who urged the preservation of Yosemite Valley, or for T. Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Association in San Francisco, or for Walter Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Association in Boston. Walter Raymond founded the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena in 1886. He planned the hotel and received money for its construction from his father Emmons Raymond, who was a stockholder in the Santa Fe Railroad.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Raymond, California” is unincorporated community in Madera County, California. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Raymond, California and unincorporated, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “unincorporated community in Madera County, California” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7298518. Authority coordinates are 37.217, -119.906. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1886.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Raymond, California”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Raymond, California primary sources, Raymond, California archive and Raymond research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Raymond, California”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Raymond, California” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.