History of Madison

    The city of Madison is the county seat of the county, and the oldest town in the county. It was named for James Madison, President of the United States. There is no record of the date at which it was made the seat of government of the county. It had a population of 8,945, in 1880, and is supposed at this time (1889) to have about 10,000.

    The town of Madison was originally laid out in the year 1810. The first sale of lots was made in February, 1811.

    The original town was laid off in a parallelogram of four blocks, containing sixteen squares of eight lots each. It was laid out on the magnetic meridian, so that he streets ran directly east and west and north and south. The first plat contained five streets running east and west. High, Second, Main Cross, Third, and Back -now Fourth Street. High Street was the southern boundary of the town, and Back, the northern boundary. There were also five streets running north and south at right angles with these, viz: East -the eastern boundary -Walnut, Main, Mulberry and West, which was the western limit of the town.

    The original town was embraced in section two, town III north, range X east. The ground was originally purchased by John Paul in the spring sale of lands at Jeffersonville, in the year 1809. He and Lewis Davis and Jonathan Lyons entered into a partnership in the lands and laid out the town.

    The second sale of lots was held June 12th, 1812.

    Additions were afterwards made to the town to the east, west and north, extending the are of the town into section three, town III north, range X east, and into sections thirty-four and thirty-five IV north, range X east.

    All of the river front south of High -now First -was afterwards platted as river blocks. These have been since subdivided, and thus the descriptions of city property seemingly complicated. In making the additions west to the original town, the trend of the river was followed, making a bend in the streets.

    The city of Madison is situated on the north bank of the Ohio River, on a plateau of ground which is really a peninsular tongue of land, formed by the waters of the Ohio River on the south and the waters of Crooked Creek on the north, and drawing towards and finally uniting with the Ohio to the west. The city extends in length, from east to west, something over two miles, and from north to south about the distance of three-fourths of a mile. The ground is slightly rolling towards either water course, so that the whole city is naturally drained about equally toward each stream, and is consequently high, dry and healthy. It is about 1500 feet above the sea level. On the north of the city the hills arise quite abruptly to the height of nearly four hundred feet. At Walnut Street there is a long hollow running north into the hills for about two miles, down which Crooked Creek comes into the city and skirts along the foot of the bluffs or hills. Madison is situated in latitude 38 degrees and six minutes north, and longitude 8 degrees and 20 minutes west of Washington.

    The early history of the town is, like that of the county, hard to get hold of. The absence of the county records, before the ye3ar 1812, makes it almost impossible, after the death of the early settlers, to establish any facts in regard to the early doings of the inhabitants. Almost ever inquiry meets with different answers, which have been partially learned and largely deduced, and principally guessed at; so that the seeker after facts has a hard time to get them, although meeting constantly with persons desirous and anxious to enlighten and assist him.

    It is prima facie fact that the town was built, and it is acknowledged on all hands as to who ere the first proprietors, but after that the skein is so terribly tangled that it cannot be straightened and unravelled.

Source: Biographical and Historical Souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott and Washington, Indiana. By John M. Gresham & Co., 1889.