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B−History
History · Madisonville

Madisonville dates to 1853, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #141 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Madisonville was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listing is the Shapira Hotel. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1850.

1853founded
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Madisonville began

When was Madisonville founded?

1853

Madisonville dates its founding to 1853 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 118 in 18502020 census: 4,420173 years

How historic is Madisonville?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1854.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 49% of U.S. towns, #141 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Madisonville’s overall grade.
Founding era1853, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.9% of homes (±6.2) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 78%

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Madisonville’s 2.2 sits above most of its state (76% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1853.

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.Famous sons and daughtersCurtis Dickey, Kenneth Hall and 6 more were born here.
★ 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
Famous people

8 famous people were born in Madisonville

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

See all →
C
Curtis DickeyAmerican football player · b. 1956
Kenneth HallPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1935
Rommie LouddAmerican football player, coach, and executive · b. 1933
C
Cameron SpikesAmerican football player · b. 1976
T
Truman KimbroUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1919
Hiram "Doc" JonesUnited States Air Force Brigadier General · b. 1937
The story

How Madisonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Madisonville.

Read it all →

The town of Madisonville was founded in 1853, as the county seat of the at the time newly organized Madison County. Lots were sold in the summer of the same year, on a 200-acre tract of land donated by Job Starks Collard. At the suggestion of Pleasant Williams Kittrell, the town was named after President James Madison.

Hillary Mercer Crabb served as a justice of the peace and chief justice (county judge). In 1852 he was elected to serve the unexpired term of State Representative F. L. Hatch. Among Crabb's accomplishments as a legislator was the introduction of a bill to create Madison County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Madisonville, 1853 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853
    FoundingMadisonville is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Madisonville post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933Born hereRommie Loudd is born here
  6. 1935Born hereKenneth Hall is born here
  7. 1956Born hereCurtis Dickey is born here
  8. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1976Born hereCameron Spikes is born here
By decade

Madisonville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Plantation style home in Madisonville, TX IMG 10162009Plantation style home in Madisonville, TX IMG 1016Madison County, TX, Museum IMG 10202009Madison County, TX, Museum IMG 1020First Baptist Church of Madisonville, TX IMG 05542009First Baptist Church of Madisonville, TX IMG 0554Downtown Madisonville, TX IMG 05592009Downtown Madisonville, TX IMG 0559Madisonville Meteor newspaper, Madisonville, TX IMG 10192009Madisonville Meteor newspaper, Madisonville, TX IMG 1…DocumentTXMap-doton-Madisonville2004TXMap-doton-Madisonville
On the map

Madisonville on the map, 1963 to 1985

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 1963 USGS mapMadisonville on the 1985 USGS map1963Madisonville 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.

Every building

Madisonville, building by building, 1914

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 sheet.

Madisonville fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 5
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Madisonville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Shapira Hotel
Shapira Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Shapira HotelQueen Anne

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

People over time

Madisonville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50018501900195020004,420

Grew from 118 people in 1850 to 4,420 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Questions about Madisonville’s history

What year was Madisonville founded?

In 1853, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Madisonville’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1850 counted 118 people here.

How does Madisonville rank for history?

Madisonville is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #141 of 642 in Texas. 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?

One place: the Shapira Hotel (listed 1980).

How old are the homes in Madisonville?

10% of Madisonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.