Historic Sites in Madison County

The history of Madison County

Madison County was created by the legislature on December 5, 1811, as Georgia's thirty-eighth county, assembled from portions of Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Oglethorpe counties. It was named for James Madison, who was president of the United States at the time. The land had been home to Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee people before it was ceded in stages, and many early white settlers were Revolutionary War veterans who had obtained their land through grants. The county seat, Danielsville, is named for General Allen Daniel, a state legislator who was instrumental in creating the county. Agriculture has defined Madison County for most of its history. Nineteenth-century farmers raised corn, beans, and pumpkins before shifting toward cotton and oats, beef and dairy cattle gained ground in the later 1800s, and poultry production has led the farm economy in recent decades. Danielsville was the 1815 birthplace of Crawford Long, the physician who in 1842 became the first to use sulfuric ether as an anesthetic during surgery. Several landmarks survive from earlier eras: New Hope Presbyterian Church, established in 1788 and counted among Georgia's oldest churches; the ornate brick Madison County Courthouse, completed in 1901 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and Watson Mill Bridge, built in 1885, which is the longest covered bridge in the state.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.org