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The History of Madison, AL

Madison’s history begins in the early 1800’s with the arrival of a settler named John Cartwright, who came the area (then part of the Mississippi Territory) to establish a homestead in 1818. About 35 years later, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company laid tracks nearby and the area began to receive more attention from settlers looking for a place to call home. Judge Clemons, one of the original landowners, plotted the town adjacent to the railroad and saw to the construction of a train depot. At this time, the town was referred to as “Madison Station.” Before long, a bustling business district was founded on what is now Main Street, featuring a saw and grist mill, a blacksmith shop, and other merchants and artisans. Madison Station played a role in the Civil War as the site of “The Affair at Madison Station”—a struggle that arose when Union soldiers took control of the railroad on May 17, 1864. Once the war was over, Madison Station began a path of steady growth and in 1869 the town incorporated, reducing the name to the present “Madison.”

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