MADISON COUNTY ALABAMA
Madison County Alabama
Madison County Alabama population is roughly 334,811. Its county seat is Huntsville, Alabama. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the first to visit the state of Alabama. Madison County covers parts of the former Decatur County.
Madison County is home to Monte Sano State Park, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and part of the Flint River. It also contains Hampton Cove Golf Course, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
Madison County was established on December 13, 1808 by the governor of the Mississippi Territory. It is recognized as the “birthplace” of Alabama, which was founded there on December 14, 1819. For much of the county’s history, the economy revolved mainly around agriculture. This changed when a group of German rocket scientists, led by Wernher von Braun, came to Redstone Arsenal in 1950. They developed, among others, the Redstone rocket, which was modified to launch the first two Americans into space. Tens of thousands of jobs came to the area as a result of the Space Race, and the population of Madison County rose from 72,903 in 1950 to an estimated 2015 population of 353,089.
Madison County Alabama Cities
Huntsville Alabama
Huntsville, located in the northernmost part of Alabama near the Tennessee border, is the fourth largest city in the state and the seat of Madison County.
Madison Alabama
Madison is located in north-central Alabama between the Tennessee River and the Tennessee border, mostly in Madison County. In recent years, it has expanded into Limestone County. Madison has low crime and a high median household income Sales tax in Madison is 8 percent and there are over 600 businesses in the city.
New Hope Alabama
New Hope was first referred to as “Cloud’s Town” after an early family that settled in the area. In late May 1864, the town was seized by Union forces. That December, it was set afire by Union forces and largely destroyed, except for a Masonic Lodge and the post office. It was gradually rebuilt and was incorporated in 1883 as New Hope, from the name of a local Methodist church.
Madison County Alabama Towns
Gurley Alabama
The Gurley area was first settled in 1830, when several families bought land and established homesteads. The town is named for John Gurley, one of these early settlers. The town was known variously as Gurley’s Place in the Woods, Gurley’s, Gurleysville, or Gurley’s Water Tank (named for a water tank at the depot used for refilling the boilers on trains after the Memphis and Charleston Railroad came through the area in 1851).
Gurley is located at 34.700278,-86.376389
The Town of Gurley website has an informative page on the history of Gurley.
Owens Cross Roads Alabama
Owens Cross Roads, named for the Owens family of settlers, was listed on maps by 1850. A post office was established around 1861. Owens Cross Roads is in located in Madison County in northeast Alabama. Renowned equestrian painter Edward Troye (1808-1874) owned a farm at Owens Cross Roads in the early 1870s.
Owens Cross Roads Alabama Police Department
PO Box 158
Ownes Cross Roads, AL 35763
phone: 256-725-4163
Owens Cross Roads Alabama Town Hall
2965 Old Highway 431
Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763
phone: 256-725-4163
Owens Cross Roads Alabama Directions
Triana Alabama
Triana was originally incorporated on November 13, 1819 as the second town in Madison County. It purportedly was named after Rodrigo de Triana, the crewman who first sighted land while sailing with Christopher Columbus on their first voyage to the Americas. For a time in the 19th century, it was a thriving riverport on the Tennessee River prior to the construction of the railroads. Its incorporation later lapsed and it was reincorporated on July 13, 1964.
Madison County Alabama Communities
Harvest Alabama
Harvest Alabama is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the northwestern part of Madison County. In the late 1800’s through early 1900’s, Harvest saw growth and development due to extension of the Fayetteville, TN rail yard along the existing Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis (NC&StL) Railroad. In the early-mid 1900’s Harvest was centered around the railroad, between Capshaw and Toney, presently known as Old Railroad Bed Rd. Elder members of the Harvest community recall a significant Native American presence in the area, primarily along the railroad areas.
Editor: Capshaw Mountain is a mountain located in Harvest, Alabama. Capshaw Mountain forms a watershed that provides the water supply for the community. It extends upwards about 800 feet above the general elevation in the area. The top of this small mountain is the site of several substantial communications towers used by local radio stations.
Hazel Green Alabama
Hazel Green is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Madison County. The town was named Hazel Green because of the hazel bushes along the road were of a vibrant green. In the early 19th century, several farmers from Georgia and the Carolinas settled in Hazel Green after discovering that the area had some of the richest soil in the Southeast.
Meridianville Alabama
Meridianville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Madison County fifteen miles south of the Tennessee border. Meridianville first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated community of 105 residents. It did not appear again on the census for a century (1980), when it was designated a census designated place (CDP).
As of the 2010 census, the population of the community is 6,021.[3]The racial makeup of the community was 86.62% White, 9.40% Black or African American, 1.07% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Moores Mill Alabama
Moores Mill is a census-designated place in Madison County.
New Market Alabama
New Market is a census-designated place in Madison County. In the early 19th century, several persons from Tennessee explored the area just across the border in what eventually became Madison County in Alabama. Isaac and Joseph Criner also explored the area and, in 1804, settled in the northern part near what is now called Mountain Fork of the Flint River. The original town site was owned by George Smith, who also was proprietor of the first mercantile which opened in 1819. Later settlers gave the name New Market to the community.
Redstone Arsenal Alabama
Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County. The Arsenal is a garrison for a number of tenants including the United States Army Material Command, Army’s Aviation and Missile Command, the Missile Defense Agency of the Department of Defense, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Toney Alabama
Toney is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Madison County. Toney has a population of 13,576. A family-centric, peaceful farming community north of Greater Huntsville/Madison. Historic street and neighborhood names like “Butter & Egg”, “Bollweevil” and “Lickskillet”.
Madison County Alabama Historic Destinations
Burritt on the Mountain
Huntsville
10th Calvary “Bu!alo Soldiers” Memorial
Huntsville
Harrison Brothers Hardware*
Huntsville
Alabama Constitution Village*
Huntsville
Howard Weeden House Museum*
Huntsville
U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum
Huntsville
North Alabama Railroad Museum
Huntsville
Alabama War Museum
Madison
Huntsville Botanical Gardens
Huntsville
U.S. Space and Rocket Center
Huntsville
Civil War Military Actions in Madison County
- KELLY’S PLANTATION — Affair, Apr. 11, 1864.
- MADISON STATION — Affair, May 17, 1864. Col. Patterson’s Ala. cavalrymen cross the river to surprise the 13th Ill. Regt. They burn the depot, cut telegraph wires, inflict a few casualties and capture 70 soldiers.
- FLETCHER’S FERRY — Skirmish, May 17, 1864. The 5th Ohio Cav. and 59th Ind. Regt. pursue Patterson to the river. Before Confederates cross the Tennessee, the Federals claim to have killed 15 and wounded 40. But Patterson’s men escape with all their prisoners.
- BIG COVE VALLEY — Skirmish, June 27, 1864.
- HUNTSVILLE — Occupied, Apr. 11, 1862. Federal troops under Gen. O. M. Mitchell enter the city at dawn, capturing 15 trains and 200 Confederates at the depot. Huntsville changes hands five times during the war. Skirmishes on June 4-5, 1862, July 2, 1862, Sept. 1, 1862, and Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 1864, take place outside the city.
- WHITESBURG — Skirmish May 29, 1864. On Nov. 14-17, 1863, a strong Union patrol searches for rebels along the river from Whitesburg to Triana, finding few.
- NEW MARKET — Skirmish Aug. 5, 1862. During an attack on a Union wagon train, Gen. R. L. McCook is shot inside an ambulance. Accused of his murder, Capt. Frank Gurley is captured nearby on Oct. 20, 1863, held on capital charges but eventually released. Another skirmish occurs here on Nov. 17, 1864.
- BUCKHORN TAVERN– Skirmish Oct. 12, 1863. In pursuit of Wheeler’s raiders, Federal cavalrymen riding north from Huntsville intercept Roddey’s troopers here. Confederates fight briefly, but disengage during a late afternoon thunderstorm. They gallop to the west that night, rapidly outdistancing their weary pursuers.
- MAYSVILLE — Skirmishes Aug. 21, 1863, Nov. 4, 1863, and Nov. 17, 1864.
- GURLEY’S TANK — Skirmish Feb. 16, 1865.
- VIENNA — Skirmish at nearby Cobb’s Mill, Jan. 29, 1864. On Apr. 21, 1864, Capt. Johnston captures eight of the 26th Iowa Regt. at Harrison’s Gap, Apr. 21, 1864. His men rout the 12th Ind. Cav. nearby at Yellow Bank Creek, July 8, 1864, and Moore’s Hill, Aug. 11, 1864.
- INDIAN CREEK — Skirmish, Dec. 23, 1864. Federal troopers attack dismounted Alabama cavalry defending the railroad bridge. Southerners fire a wild volley with single-shot muskets and break for the rear. Federals charge after them, slashing and shooting. They kill and wound 20 Confederates, bringing in 50 more bleeding from saber cuts. Two Federals receive slight wounds.
Madison County Alabama Links
Nestled in the southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Gurley, Alabama is located in a beautiful fertile valley which is approximately three miles wide and six miles long. The community lies 16 miles east of Huntsville and is bordered on the west by the Flint River and on the east by the Paint Rock River.