The Early Architecture of Madison, Indiana

The format is approximately 8.75 inches by 11.25 inches. xvi, 230 pages. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations. Glossary. Bibliography. Index by Street Addresses. Index. Illustrated dust jacket. The worn dust jacket is in a plastic sleeve. An excellent, profusely illustrated, photo survey of a unique and still-handsome Ohio River town that has the finest collection of nineteenth century architecture in the region. Superbly printed by the Donnelley and Sons Company/Lakeside Press. A survey in words and pictures of the priceless architectural heritage of Madison, Indiana. More than three hundred illustrations depict the astounding abundance of stylistically diverse nineteenth-century structures and the architectural details, especially ironwork, that contribute to the "Madison Look." Contains a historical introduction that examines the relationship between the city's economics and its architecture. Since 1960 Historic Madison, Inc. (HMI) has worked tirelessly to preserve and save the unique and fragile historic environment that has earned Madison its national reputation. Founded in 1960 by John T. Windle and a group of preservation-minded business leaders to save the c. 1820 Jeremiah Sullivan house from demolition, HMI has grown from there and is recognized as a leading local historic preservation organization in the United States. Among the topics covered are Federal Style, Classic Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne Revival, Stone Buildings, Railway Station, Firehouses, Industrial Architecture, and Mixed Styles. Madison was laid out and platted in 1810, and the first lots were sold in 1811 by John Paul. It had busy early years due to heavy river traffic and its position as an entry point into the Indiana Territory along the historic Old Michigan Road. Madison's location across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state, made it an important location on the Underground Railroad, which worked to free fugitive slaves. George DeBaptiste's barbershop in town became a nerve center of the local group. By 1850, Madison was the third-largest city in Indiana (after New Albany and Indianapolis), and among the 100 largest cities in the U.S. Indiana's first railroad, the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, was built there from 1836 to 1847. Chartered in 1832 by the Indiana State Legislature as the Madison Indianapolis & Lafayette Railroad, and construction begun September 16, 1836, the railroad was transferred to private ownership on January 31, 1843, as the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. Successful for more than a decade, the railroad went into decline and was sold at foreclosure in 1862, renamed the Indianapolis & Madison Railroad, and after a series of corporate transfers, became part of the massive Pennsylvania Railroad system in 1921. In March 1924, the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce was founded to aid area business growth and development. Conrail much later bought Pennsylvania Railroad, but the deal left out a 26-mile stretch of track from North Vernon to Madison. Madison Port Authority purchased this, forming Madison Railroad in 1975. Madison's days as a leading Indiana city were numbered, however, when river traffic declined and new railroads built between Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati tapped into Madison's trade network. As a result, Madison's growth did not continue at the same pace it had experienced before the Civil War. During the late nineteenth century, many new buildings were still being built, but in many cases older structures were modernized by adding cast-iron storefronts and ornamental sheet metal cornices. Some earlier buildings survived without major alterations, and the Madison National Landmark Historic District today contains examples of all the major architectural styles of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from Federal to Art Moderne.…