Madison is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, on the central northern border of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, United States. The population was 2,912 at the 2020 census.

History

The territory now known as Madison County was ruled at various times by Great Britain, Spain, and finally the United States. This area was developed for cotton plantations dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. After the Civil War and emancipation, many

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...

and their descendants stayed in the region, working as

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

or tenant farmers. Racial violence of whites against blacks increased after the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

, reaching a peak near the turn of the 20th century. The following blacks were lynched in Madison: Savage and James in 1882, Charles Martin, 1 February 1899; both James Denson and his stepson, 7 January 1901; and an unidentified man, 9 February 1906.David Mark Greaves, "View From Here: Never Forget -(The Lynching List)"
3 February 2012; accessed 19 March 2018

Geography

Madison is located slightly east of the center of Madison County at 30°28′N 83°25′W (30.466, –83.415). U.S. Route 90 passes through the center of town, leading west to Tallahassee, the state capital, and southeast to Lake City.

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

passes to the south of Madison with access from exits 251 and 258. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 1.93%, are water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 2,912 people, 976 households, and 503 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 3,061 people, 1,227 households, and 764 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,395 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 35.74%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 62.43%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.10% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.29% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 2.16% of the population. There were 1,227 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 27.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.7% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.13. In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.1% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $17,656, and the median income for a family was $22,988. Males had a median income of $24,101 versus $23,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $10,041. About 37.0% of families and 39.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 49.2% of those under age 18 and 28.9% of those age 65 or over. Madison has the city manager-council form of government. City commissioners are elected from districts and serve for four years. The commission appoints the city manager and city clerk; a mayor-commissioner serves a one-year term. The City of Madison has a 14 officer police department, and a 9 firefighter fire department. The 2008–2009 millage rate is 6.0484. The General Fund Budget is $7,344,592. Emphasis is placed on public safety, primarily expanding the Fire Department full-time personnel to implement a 24/48 hour, 3 shift coverage. In addition, the city plans to address abandoned and rundown property issues.

Climate

This area's climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Madison has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Education

Madison is served by two campuses of the District School Board of Madison County, Madison County Central School (PK–8) and Madison County High School. North Florida College provides post-secondary instruction for six counties (Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee, and Taylor). In addition, St. Leo University provides university instruction at the junior-senior level. File:Madison County Central School.jpg, Madison County Central School File:Madison County High School, Madison.jpg, Madison County High School

Media

Area newspapers published by Greene Publishing are '' Madison County Carrier'' and '' The Madison Enterprise Recorder''.

Transportation

Madison is served by Madison Shuttle, a bus route operated by Big Bend Transit. Freight service is provided by the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, which acquired most of the former

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

main line from Pensacola to Jacksonville on June 1, 2019.

Notable people

* LeGarrette Blount, NFL running back * Lorenzo Cain, MLB player * Geno Hayes, NFL linebacker *

Colin Kelly Colin Purdie Kelly Jr. ( ; July 11, 1915 – December 10, 1941) was a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress pilot who flew bombing runs against the Japanese navy in the first days after the Pearl Harbor attack. He is remembered as one of the first ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

hero * Scott Kelly, politician * Jacobbi McDaniel, NFL defensive tackle * Scott Phillips, drummer for the band

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

* Jesse Solomon, NFL linebacker * Chris Thompson, NFL running back * Ernest Thomas, one of the

Groveland Four The Groveland Four (or the Groveland Boys) were four African American men, Ernest Thomas, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd, and Walter Irvin. In July 1949, the four were accused of raping a white woman and severely beating her husband in Lake C ...

, killed by a sheriff's posse in Madison in July 1949, exonerated in 2021 * Don Williams, stock car driver

References

External links

*
Greater Madison County Chamber of Commerce

Madison County, Florida
tourism site
''Madison Enterprise-Recorder''
newspaper that serves Madison, Florida is available in full-text with images i
Florida Digital Newspaper Library
{{authority control County seats in Florida Cities in Madison County, Florida Cities in Florida