A history of Madison,
since 1809
Postcards, papers and photographs of Madison from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗On December 12, 1809, the town, named for 4th United States president, James Madison, was incorporated. Madison was described in an early 19th-century issue of White's Statistics of Georgia as "the most cultured and aristocratic town on the stagecoach route from Charleston to New Orleans." An 1849 edition of White's Statistics stated, "In point of intelligence, refinement, and hospitality, this town acknowledges no superior."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Madison’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Surve…, 1936: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Madison
See all 13 →
Madison, decade by decade
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…1936
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…1936
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…1936
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…1936
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…1936
CommonsHistoric American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photograp…19361990s
5 historic places in Madison
Madison has 5 listings on the National Register, and they protect 364 historic buildings, because Madison Historic District (Boundary Increase) alone counts 306.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Listed 1972Bonar Hall
Listed 1974Madison Historic District
Listed 1974Nathan Bennett HouseListed 1990Madison Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed 2004Wilson-Finney-Land HouseThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Historic American Buildings Survey L. D. Andrew - Photographer June, 5, 1936 FRONT ELEVATION - Thurleston, 455 Dixie Hi… (1936) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.