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Monroe-county-tennessee-courthouse1Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0
BHistory
History · Madisonville

Madisonville dates to 1819, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #69 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Madisonville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1870.

1819founded
4on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Madisonville began

When was Madisonville founded?

1819

Madisonville dates its founding to 1819 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 324 in 18702020 census: 5,132207 years

How historic is Madisonville?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1830.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 59% of U.S. towns, #69 of 177 in Tennessee. 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.
Founding era1819, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19402.6% of homes (±1.9) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register4 listings, 6 historic buildings, 11.4 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 61%

Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madisonville’s 11.4 sits above most of its state (66% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1819.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Madisonville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1819: 207 years of Madisonville.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Madisonville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Madisonville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Madisonville, 1819 to 2004

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819
    FoundingMadisonville is established
  3. 1830Post officeThe Madisonville post office opens
  4. 1845BuiltCooke-Kefauver House is built
  5. 1846BuiltStickley House is built
  6. 1890Born hereTod Sloan is born here
  7. 1895Born hereSue K. Hicks is born here
  8. 1897BuiltMonroe County Courthouse is built
  9. 20th century
  10. 1903Born hereEstes Kefauver is born here
  11. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 21st century
  13. 2004Born hereEmiSunshine is born here
On the National Register

4 historic places in Madisonville

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Stickley House
Stickley House, built 1846Cooke-Kefauver House, built 1845Monroe County Courthouse, built 1897Smith-Kefauver House
Buildings
Stickley HouseBuilt 1846
Cooke-Kefauver HouseBuilt 1845
Monroe County CourthouseBuilt 1897
All 4 listings
Smith-Kefauver HouseBuilding · listed 2026

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

The story

How Madisonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Madisonville.

Read it all →

The City of Madisonville originally began as the town of Tellico, and prior to that a Cherokee village of the same name. The Calhoun Treaty and resulting Hiwassee Purchase of 1819 opened the area for white settlement. Madisonville was founded in the early 1820s as a county seat for Monroe County, which had been formed in 1819. The town was initially known as "Tellico," but its name was changed to "Madisonville" in 1830 in honor of U.S. President James Madison in accordance with a petition from the residents presented by state representative James Madison Greenway. Madisonville was incorporated on May 16, 1850.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Madisonville, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Jeff's Barber Shop2023Jeff's Barber ShopHwy. 4112023Hwy. 411Kefauver House2012Kefauver HouseStickley-house-tn12011Stickley-house-tn1Madisonville-from-cemetery-tn12010Madisonville-from-cemetery-tn1Monroe-county-tennessee-courthouse12007Monroe-county-tennessee-courthouse1Allan Benton2007Allan BentonAllan Benton's Smokehouse2007Allan Benton's Smokehouse
On the map

Madisonville on the map, 1936 to 2003

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

Madisonville on the 1936 USGS mapMadisonville on the 1940 USGS mapMadisonville on the 1984 USGS mapMadisonville on the 2003 USGS map1936Madisonville 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 Madisonville.

People over time

Madisonville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,500188019001920194019601980200020205,132

Grew from 324 people in 1870 to 5,132 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Madisonville

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

See all →
Estes KefauverAmerican politician · b. 1903
Sue K. HicksAmerican judge · b. 1895
EmiSunshineAmerican musician · b. 2004
T
Tod SloanAmerican baseball player · b. 1890
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Madisonville’s post office has been open since 1830.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sequoyah EstatesSherril Heights
Gone or out of use
Park City SchoolschoolVeterans Camplocale
1cemetery inside Madisonville
Madisonville

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

Questions about Madisonville’s history

What year was Madisonville founded?

In 1819, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Madisonville’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1870 counted 324 people here.

How does Madisonville rank for history?

Madisonville is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #69 of 177 in Tennessee. 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?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Stickley House (listed 1974, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Madisonville?

3% of Madisonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1988.

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 Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.