Raymond, California

Raymond is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located 22mi north-northeast of Madera, at an elevation of 948 feet .Raymond has fewer than 1,000 residents. It is located approximately 20mi north of Madera at Green Mountain Road and Road 600. The community is part of the Madera - Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area.The area was either named for T. Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Association in San Francisco, or 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. When the town of Raymond was dedicated, its residents approached Walter Raymond and offered to name the town after him if he would cut the ribbon at the ceremony.The painter Thomas Hill, one of the renowned Early California Artists, died here in 1908.The first post office opened in 1886. The original name, Wildcat Station, was replaced by Raymond when the Southern Pacific Railroad reached the town in 1886.