Madison County was organized by an act of the General Assembly of Georgia on December 11, 1811. It was named for
James Madison, who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. It was the 38th county formed in Georgia, and began to function as a county in 1812. Madison County was formed from the counties of Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, Oglethorpe. Early agriculture in Madison County was devoted to food crops and livestock (
cattle,
hogs, and
sheep), which were sufficient to feed the population. Just after the
Civil War ended, the demand for a
cash crop led to major reliance on
cotton. The soils of Madison County were heavily damaged by this cotton monoculture. From the 1930s on, agriculture became more diverse. Today,
agribusiness dominates the local economy, with poultry production particularly important. Madison and Oglethorpe counties share
Watson Mill Bridge State Park, the site of the longest covered bridge in Georgia. The bridge, which is over 100 years old, spans 229 feet of the South Fork of the Broad River. There are also facilities for camping, hiking trails, picnicking, and fishing in the park. The
Madison County Courthouse, one of the most ornate in Georgia, was built in 1901 for the sum of $18,314. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. New Hope Presbyterian Church, established in 1788, is the third oldest church in Georgia. Lt. Col.
Lemuel Penn, a decorated veteran of World War II and a
United States Army Reserve officer, was murdered by members of the
Ku Klux Klan on July 11, 1964, nine days after passage of the
Civil Rights Act, on a
Broad River bridge on the
Georgia State Route 172 in Madison County.
Postal history In 1879, there were only four post offices in Madison County: Danielsville, Fort Lamar, Madison Springs and Paoli. In 1889, Madison county had post offices at Carlton, Danielsville, Dowdy, Fort Lamar, Gholston (Gholston's Stand), Hix, Ila, Madison Springs, Medicus, Paoli and Planter. By 1900, additional post offices had been opened in Alvin, Berea, Boggs, Carruth, Comer, Fiveforks (now Comer), Jeptha, Larkin, Monitor, Neese, Pocataligo and Sorrells, while the offices in Gholston and Medicus had been closed. By 1910, most of these post offices had closed; the only remaining ones were in Carlton, Colbert, Comer, Danielsville and Hull. By 1920, the office in Ila had reopened. The county would retain these six post offices ==Geography==