Madison is a city and former coal town in Boone County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. The population was 2,911 at the 2020 census. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Boone County.

History

Madison was first established as Boone Court House. The town was renamed ''circa'' 1865, presumably for

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

, the fourth president of the United States. Other theories hold that it was named for lawyer James Madison Laidley or for William Madison Peyton, a pioneer

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

operator, who was a leader in the movement which resulted in the formation of Boone County and for whom Peytona on Big Coal River was also named. Madison was incorporated in 1906. The first courthouse at Madison, a log structure, was burned by Union troops early in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The second courthouse, made of local brick, served until 1913, and a frame building was used by county officials for the next several years. The present Boone County Courthouse, occupied in 1921, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Madison is the "Gateway to the Coalfields," as it is located on a principal route through the southern coalfields. It occupied a strategic place during the Mine Wars. Miners twice rallied at the town ballpark in August 1921, to consider whether to continue their march to neighboring Logan and Mingo counties. Thousands of armed marchers passed through the town and surrounding region on their way to and from the fighting at Blair Mountain, which is located up Spruce Fork from Madison. In addition to the Boone County Courthouse, the Madison National Bank building is listed on the

. The WV Coal Festival has taken place in Madison each June since 1994.

Geography

Madison is located at (38.061816, -81.818216). The Little Coal River is formed at Madison by the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of its Spruce Fork and its Pond Fork. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 3,076 people, 1,299 households, and 881 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,428 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.3%

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

, 2.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 0.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 1,299 households, of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were

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

living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age in the city was 42.1 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 30.4% were from 45 to 64; and 16% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,677 people, 1,191 households, and 783 families living in the city. The

was 479.1 people per square mile (184.9/km²). There were 1,319 housing units at an average density of 236.1 per square mile (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.81%

, 4.18%

, 0.04% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.26% of the population. There were 1,191 households, out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were

living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.79. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 30.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,911, and the median income for a family was $37,232. Males had a median income of $31,389 versus $23,160 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $18,309. About 18.2% of families and 21.4% 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 31.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Fred Haddad, co-founder and president of Heck's discount retail chain

References

{{authority control Cities in West Virginia Cities in Boone County, West Virginia County seats in West Virginia Charleston, West Virginia metropolitan area Coal towns in West Virginia