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Madison, Mississippi
Madison Central High School
Madison Central High School
Flag of Madison, Mississippi
Flag
Official seal of Madison, Mississippi
Seal
Nickname(s): 
"Madison the City", "The Brick City"
Location in Madison County and the state of Mississippi
Location in Madison County and the state of Mississippi
Madison, Mississippi is located in the United States
Madison, Mississippi
Madison, Mississippi
Location in the United States
Country United States
State Mississippi
County Madison
Government
 • Type Municipality
Area
 • Total 26.43 sq mi (68.5 km2)
 • Land 25.25 sq mi (65.4 km2)
 • Water 1.18 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Elevation
338 ft (103 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 27,747
 • Density 1,098.59/sq mi (424.17/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
39110, 39130
Area code(s) 601, 769
FIPS code 28-44520
GNIS feature ID 0673053

Madison is the 11th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, located in Madison County, 13 miles (21 km) north of the state capital, Jackson. The population was 27,747 at the 2020 census, up from 24,149 in 2010. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The city of Madison, named for James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, developed along a bustling railroad track in antebellum Mississippi. It began in 1856 when the Illinois Central Railroad opened Madison Station, the forerunner of the city of Madison.

The nearby town of Madisonville was a settlement along the stagecoach route on the Natchez Trace. It was the first county seat of Madison County in 1828, and had a race track, two banks, a wagon factory, and at least one hotel. Its residents gradually moved to the new railroad community, and old Madisonville became defunct.

Like many railroad towns in the South, Madison Station was heavily damaged by the Union Army during the Civil War. Ten miles from the state capital of Jackson, Madison Station was largely destroyed in 1863 after the July 18–22 siege of Jackson. No battles were fought in Madison County, but Major General Stephen D. Lee concentrated his command in Madison Station during the month of February 1864. Stephen Lee was later appointed as the first president of Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University).

The railroad continued to attract growth after the Civil War. In 1897, the Madison Land Company encouraged northerners to "Go South, and grow up with the country." Located in Chicago, the land company's interest in development prompted Madison to incorporate as a village, though the charter was lost when regular elections were not held because of the failure of the "land boom".

The Madison Land Company offered prime land for as little as $3.00 an acre. It claimed that Mississippi had the lowest debt ratio in the United States at $19.00 per capita and that Mississippians were one-third healthier by "official figures" than people in New York and Massachusetts. The figures were quoted in the Madison Land Company's brochure by Bishop Hugh Miller Thompson, the second Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Mississippi and a Madison resident, who originally came from Wisconsin.

After many years of court battles, the city annexed other territory to expand its limits in size in the late 2000s.

On November 24, 2001, a violent F4 tornado impacted western portions of the city. Many homes were severely damaged or destroyed, including some that were leveled and swept from their foundations in the Fairfield subdivision. The tornado traveled 11.5 miles (18.5 km) across Madison County, damaging or destroying 164 homes along the path. Two people were killed by the tornado, and 21 others were injured.

Geography

Madison is in southern Madison County and is bordered to the south by the city of Ridgeland. The city of Gluckstadt is 5 miles (8 km) to the north. Interstate 55 passes through the city, with access from Exit 107 (Madison Avenue) and Exit 108 (Hwy 463). U.S. Route 51 passes through the city center, now within the eastern part of the city limits as expansion has occurred to the west. The Natchez Trace Parkway runs along the eastern border of the city.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Madison has a total area of 26.4 square miles (68 km2), of which 25.2 square miles (65 km2) are land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km2), or 4.47%, are water. The east side of the city drains to the Ross Barnett Reservoir on the Pearl River, while the northern part drains to Bear Creek, a tributary of the Big Black River, and the western part drains to Limekiln Creek, a tributary of Bogue Chitto Creek, which also flows to the Big Black.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1950 540
1960 703 30.2%
1970 853 21.3%
1980 2,241 162.7%
1990 7,471 233.4%
2000 14,692 96.7%
2010 24,149 64.4%
2020 27,747 14.9%
U.S. Decennial Census
Strawberry Patch Park 2009
Strawberry Patch Park

2020 census

Madison racial composition
Race Num. Perc.
White 21,809 78.6%
Black or African American 3,235 11.66%
Native American 27 0.1%
Asian 1,336 4.81%
Pacific Islander 6 0.02%
Other/Mixed 768 2.77%
Hispanic or Latino 566 2.04%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 27,747 people, 8,972 households, and 7,121 families residing in the city.

Recreation

  • Strawberry Patch Park, one mile running trail, playground, and children's fishing pond
  • Liberty Park, sports fields and playgrounds
  • Simmons Arboretum, wooded trail

Education

Madison is served by the Madison County School District. The student/teacher ratio is 19:1.

Madison-Ridgeland Academy is a 6A private high school and member of the MSAIS located in Madison.

St. Joseph Catholic School is a parochial school located in Madison that serves the Jackson Area; it is of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson.

In 2010, Tulane University opened a satellite campus of its School of Continuing Studies. The campus was housed in a renovated wing of the former Madison Station Elementary School (Madison Ridgeland High School) campus until it closed in 2017. Jackson State University has also opened a satellite campus in the city.

Transportation

There is one small airport in the city, Bruce Campbell Field.

Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, 13 miles (21 km) to the southeast, is the commercial airport of the Jackson metropolitan area.

Points of interest

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Madison (Misisipi) para niños

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