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AHistory
History · Madison

Madison’s post office opened in 1820, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Boxwoods, The, the Scales, Alfred Moore, Law Office and the Academy Street Historic District. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1870.

1820first post office
3on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Madison’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Madison began

When was Madison founded?

1820

The Madison post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 295 in 18702020 census: 2,129206 years

How historic is Madison?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
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 87% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Madison’s overall grade.
Founding era1820, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194022.7% of homes (±10.1) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 14 historic buildings, 62.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder

North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madison’s 62.4 sits above most of its state (70% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.1 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.

Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1910, drew every building in Madison.Deep rootsA post office since 1820: 206 years of Madison.Old housesHalf of Madison’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Every building

Madison, building by building, 1893–1910

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 fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Madison, 1820 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820Post officeThe Madison post office opens
  3. 1848Born hereCharles A. Reynolds is born here
  4. 1856BuiltScales, Alfred Moore, Law Office is built
  5. 1881Born hereBill Lindsay is born here
  6. 1894Born hereMary Cardwell Dawson is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1925Born hereShirley Wilson is born here
  9. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980In the archiveRamshackled motel
The story

How Madison came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Madison.

Read it all →

In 1940, artist Jean Watson painted the mural Early Summer in North Carolina in the town's post office as a project commissioned by the Works Progress Administration.

The Academy Street Historic District, The Boxwoods, Cross Rock Rapid Sluice, Fewell-Reynolds House, Gravel Shoals Sluice, Jacob's Creek Landing, Mayo River Sluice, Roberson's Fish Trap Shoal Sluice, Alfred Moore Scales Law Office, and Slink Shoal Sluice and Wing Dams are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Boxley House, in downtown Madison, is the oldest standing structure in the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Madison, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s9 items
Ramshackled motel1980Ramshackled motelGrogan's Motel1980Grogan's MotelGrogan's Court, a now-abandoned motel1980Grogan's Court, a now-abandoned motelDolls in a rural home1980Dolls in a rural homeGrogan's Court, a now-abandoned motel1980Grogan's Court, a now-abandoned motelGrogan's Tourist Court, a now-abandoned motel, which opened1980Grogan's Tourist Court, a now-abandoned motel, which …Photographer Carol M. Highsmith, creator of the photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive at the Library of Congres…1980Photographer Carol M. Highsmith, creator of the photo…Elderly woman in rural Wentworth, North Carolina1985Elderly woman in rural Wentworth, North CarolinaKate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, P…1985Kate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log c…
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
The old (but repainted) office and older guest room area, both long closed, of Grogan's Court, which was once a bustlin…2017The old (but repainted) office and older guest room a…
On the map

Madison on the map, 1971 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Madison. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Madison on the 1971 USGS mapMadison on the 1984 USGS mapMadison on the 1997 USGS map1971Mayodan sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Madison.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Ramshackled motel
Retake this viewRamshackled motel, 1980

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Madison’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Madison

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Boxwoods, The
Boxwoods, TheScales, Alfred Moore, Law Office, built 1856Academy Street Historic District
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Federal style1
Federal Revival1
Victorian1
Colonial Revival1
Bungalow1
Boxwoods, TheFederal style
Scales, Alfred Moore, Law OfficeBuilt 1856
Academy Street Historic DistrictFederal Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Madison, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,806

Between 295 and 2,806 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Madison’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Madison

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Mary Cardwell DawsonAmerican opera singer · b. 1894
Bill LindsayAmerican baseball player · b. 1881
Charles A. ReynoldsLieutenant Governor of North Carolina · b. 1848
Shirley WilsonAmerican football coach · b. 1925
J
Johnny MeadorMajor League Baseball pitcher · b. 1892
Robert Opie LindsayWorld War I fighter ace · b. 1894
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Madison’s post office has been open since 1820.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Idol Park
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Madison
First Baptist Church of MadisonRiverviewWoodland

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Madison’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRamshackled motel: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mayodan2 historic placesB+

Questions about Madison’s history

What year was Madison founded?

The Madison post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Madison rank for history?

Madison is more historic than 87% 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 Boxwoods, The (listed 1980), the Scales, Alfred Moore, Law Office (1982) and the Academy Street Historic District (1982).

How old are the homes in Madison?

23% of Madison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1960.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (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.