Madison, CA

Madison is a small Yolo County community along Highway 16 west of Woodland, surrounded by the farm country of the Sacramento Valley. Its post office began in 1852 under the name Cache Creek; in 1877 the office moved and took the name Madison. The railroad helped fix the new townsite in place, while many buildings and residents came north from nearby Cottonwood, which the line bypassed. Madison’s local water district was formed in 1966, and its service area still follows the small-community shape of the place. Madison is a farming town whose story turns on a post office, a railroad, and a name change.