Madisonville dates to 1807, and 12 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #54 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it
Most of Madisonville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. 12 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 44 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1809.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Madisonville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Madisonville is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #54 of 142 in Kentucky. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Madisonville’s overall grade.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madisonville’s 29.2 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 57 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1807.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Madisonville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1840, then grew more than tenfold.
20 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Madisonville’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Madisonville, building by building, 1886–1923
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Madisonville was founded in 1807 and named for then-Secretary of State James Madison. It was named the seat of Hopkins County in 1808 and formally incorporated in 1810.
Hopkins County and Madisonville were divided by the Civil War. Union supporters joined a regiment recruited locally by James Shackleford; Al Fowler recruited Confederate troops. The courthouse in Madisonville was burned by Confederates led by Gen. Hylan B. Lyon on December 17, 1864, as they passed through western Kentucky. While Kentucky remained mostly in the Union, half the state had seceded at the Russellville Convention and was controlled by the Confederacy early in the war before being conquered by the Union.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1807, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Madisonville’s post office opened in 1809, and the census of 1810 counted 37 people here.
How does Madisonville rank for history?
Madisonville is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #54 of 142 in Kentucky. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Madisonville?
12 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Chittenden P. Lyon Jr. House (listed 1976, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Madisonville Commercial Historic District and the North Main Street Historic District, with 44 contributing buildings. 57 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Madisonville?
7% of Madisonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1975.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
2005
2005
2004
