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MADISONVILLE,
TEXAS
Madison County,
Central
Texas South
2 miles west of I-45
State Hwys 21 and 90
US Hwys 75 and 190
28 miles N of Huntsville
24 miles S of Centerville
36 miles E of Bryan via North
Zulch
Population: 4,159 (2000) (about one third of the county's population)
3,569 (1990)
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History in
a Pecan shell
President James Madison was the namesake for both county and town.
Job Starks Collard donated the 200 acres that became Madisonville.
Lots were sold in 1853 around the county's first courthouse, which
was built the following year. The population was almost at 100 people
by 1870 and a steady growth continued throughout the 1880s.
The Madisonville Meteor, still in print today, was founded in 1895,
when the population was about 700. In 1903 the International-Great
Northern Railroad ran a line from Navasota
which it discontinued in 1944. With new highways built in the late
20s and 30s, Madisonville became less dependant on the railroad and
the highways aided local residents who migrated to urban areas in
search of better paying jobs.
A mushroom plant was started by Ralston-Purina in the 70s and was
bought out in the 1980s by Monterey Mushrooms. The plant remains a
major economic force today, employing about 400 people.
The Madisonville Sidewalk Cattleman's Association, founded in the
1940s holds an annual celebration each June and is one of the town's
major events of the year.
A former bank building close to the Madisonville Meteor Newspaper
Office has recently been donated to the Madison County Historical
Society and efforts are underway to turn the building into a museum.
Woodbine Hotel and Museum: 209 N. Madison Street.
Built in 1904, the former hotel and boarding house is a handsome example
of Texas architecture from the early 20th Century.
Madison
County Courthouse - next page |
Madisonville
Tourist information
Madisonville
Chamber of Commerce:
113 West Trinity 936-348-3591 |
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