Mainstreet Madison, Indiana – Town History

Settlers populated Madison beginning as early as 1806, and the town officially incorporated on April 1, 1809. It had flush early years due to heavy river traffic and its position as an entry point into the Indiana Territory along the historic Old Michigan Road.

Indiana’s first railroad, the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, was built there between 1836 and 1847. Chartered in 1832 by the Indiana State Legislature as the Madison Indianapolis & Lafayette Railroad, and construction begun September 16, 1836, the railroad was transferred to private ownership on January 31, 1843, as the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. Successful for more than a decade, the railroad went into decline and was sold at foreclosure in 1862, renamed the Indianapolis & Madison Railroad, and after a series of corporate transfers, became part of the massive Pennsylvania Railroad system in 1921.

Madison’s days as a leading Indiana city were numbered, however, when river traffic declined and new railroads built between Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati tapped into Madison’s trade network. (”River to Rail,” a history of steamboats and railroads in Madison) As a result, Madison went into an economic and growth decline. As an unexpected benefit, today the town’s previous misfortune leaves for us an extensive preserved collection of early 19th century architecture in the Federal and Greek Revival styles.