Its Register listings are the Lac qui Parle County Courthouse, the Madison Carnegie Library and the Madison City Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1890.
The Madison post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, True (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 625 in 18902020 census: 1,518142 years
How historic is Madison?
A−
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Madison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Madison’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Madison is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Madison’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madison’s 19.4 sits above most of its state (83% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Madison’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,380 in 1960; 1,518 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Madison’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Madison, building by building, 1894–1913
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.
Madison was platted in 1884, and named after Madison, Wisconsin. A post office has been in operation at Madison since 1884.
The Madison City Council proposed that the city should be named the Lutefisk Capital of the United States in 1982, and the Madison Chamber of Commerce funded the construction of a 25 ft (7.6 m) fiberglass cod nicknamed Lou T. Fisk, which welcomes visitors.
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.
Madison’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, True, opened and closed inside today’s town.
True
1883–1884
Madison
1884–today
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Madison’s history
What year was Madison founded?
The Madison post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Madison rank for history?
Madison is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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 Madison?
Three places: the Lac qui Parle County Courthouse (listed 1985), the Madison Carnegie Library (1985) and the Madison City Hall (1985).
How old are the homes in Madison?
35% of Madison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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2019
2019
2019
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