Madison’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 18 old photos of Madison. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusMadison Township is one of twelve townships in Jay County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 643 (down from 656 at 2010) and it contained 264 housing units. Madison Township was established in 1835.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 656 people in 2010, 643 in 2020. Half of its homes were built before 1975.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Madison yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Madison’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Madison’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo15 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewLieutenant Colonel William G. Man…, 1863: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Madison, decade by decade
1990s
unknown15 items
LOCDate?Madison & Indianapolis Railroad
LOCDate?Town of Madison
LOCDate?Bachman House, Lonesome Hollow
LOCDate?Maywood, Maywood Lane
LOCDate?Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
LOCDate?First Baptist Church, 416 Vine Street
LOCDate?John Eckert House, 510 West Second Street
LOCDate?Tobacco Prizing House, 116 Elm Street
LOCDate?Richard Talbott House, 301 West Second Street
LOCDate?Jacob Shuh House, 718 West Main Street
LOCDate?Robinson-Schofield House, 221 West Second Street
LOCDate?300 Block Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
LOCDate?Jefferson County Courthouse, Jefferson & Main Streets
LOCDate?200 Block Main Street (Commercial Buildings)
LOCDate?Carriage House & Stables, 120 Elm StreetNothing in Madison is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Madison has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Morvilius Opera House in Fort Recovery, 5.2 miles away.
Madison and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Lieutenant Colonel William G. Mank provides the eulogy at the funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Glass (1863) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (18). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.