one of corte madera's first businesses,
established in 1887.

The old stable built by John F. Allen in 1898 later became Buckley's, the busy grocery store that occupied the building for 50 years before it closed and later housed Corte Madera Hardware.  It's now Stellar Spa.

The undisputed hub of activity and importance in the early days was Mahood's store, adjacent to the Episcopal church.  Del Mahood came to Corte Madera in 1905 as the railroad agent and station-master.  He was also a telegrapher, and after his brother Foster Mahood joined him in town, the two of them operated the local telephone agency, the post office, and a sweet shop in their building.

This cartoon map of Corte Madera was created in 1952 as an advertisement for local businesses.  Although the locations are slightly skewed, it's our best record of what businesses occupied certain sites at the time.