Madison County AlArchives History .....Madison County 1888 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 3, 2011, 6:00 pm MADISON COUNTY. County Seat—Huntsville; Population, 8,000; located on M. & C. R. R. Madison county, Alabama, is at the head of the famed Tennessee valley, and has an area of 872 square miles, with a frontage on the Tennessee river of thirty miles. The salubriousness of its climate, fertility of soil, abundance and purity of water, agricultural resources, beautiful, grand and picturesque scenery, educational advantages, cultured and refined society, and noted healthfulness, give it such substantial charms as make it one of the most desirable sections for residence in the South. Madison is the banner county of the cereal belt. It leads all others in wealth and the production of cotton. The soils of the county vary, but generally are of the red clay subsoil. Its shape is almost square. The county is remarkably well watered, there being twelve creeks and rivers running through it from the north to south. These are Barren Fork, Indian, Prices' Fork, Beaver Dam, Frier's Fork, Mountain Fork, Hurricane, Aldridge, Limestone and Huntsville Spring creeks, and Flint and Paint Rock rivers. In the mountainous portion of the county, eastward, and on the Whitesburg pike to the Tennessee river south of Huntsville, are found farms which are devoted to raising clover, small grain and stock with great success. This county occupies medium ground between the tropical and temperate producing regions, with many characteristics peculiar to both. Its soil yields cotton, but is most naturally adapted to the raising of grasses, grain, corn and stock. The average annual yield of cotton is 20,000 bales, but there is a growing disposition on the part of the farmers to forsake cotton, and to adopt stock raising and the production of cereals exclusively. The lands being of red clay subsoil, are susceptible of the highest state of fertility, and being generally level, are easily cultivated. Madison is one of the largest corn-producing counties in the State. The raising of wheat is annually increasing, and twenty-five or thirty bushels per acre is not considered an unusual crop on good land. The soils of the county are especially adapted to corn, cotton, wheat, tobacco, oats, rye, barley, peas, potatoes and millet. Orchard grass, Herds grass, Timothy and all the clovers grow here to perfection, producing as much as three tons per acre. The cotton crop is estimated at $1,000,000; corn crop about the same; peas and beans, $50,000: potatoes, $100,000, and horses, cattle and sheep, nearly $1,000,000. Being well watered, with clear running streams the entire year, the county is admirably adapted to the raising of horses, mules, cattle, sheep and hogs; all these thrive, and this has proven a most profitable business. Importations of stock of all kinds have been attended with great success, this climate proving remarkably healthy for them. There is in this county now, at least 100 registered Jersey-cattle (a recent business), and several head are direct from the island of Jersey. They are as healthy and prolific a herd as anywhere in the United States. There are also two or three herds of Holsteins, in which are represented some of the finest milk-strains in the world. They have fine health, and thrive remarkably well. Madison has, perhaps. the finest horses and jacks in the entire country, and stock-raising is becoming a chief and very profitable business. Perhaps in no county in the State is more attention devoted to the matter of education than in Madison. Schools of excellent, grade are to be found throughout the county. Men of thrift, energy and enterprise, whether with or without capital, will be cordially welcomed in this county. Adjacent to the mountains, the soils are admirably adapted to the cultivation of vineyard and orchard products. Great and rapid strides have already been made in the direction of horticulture. In this county is the largest nursery in the United States, and its business has proven eminently successful. Its name is "Huntsville Wholesale Nurseries," and as that name implies, the trees grown are intended for the wholesale trade. The tract of land devoted to the business is over a thousand acres. Orders received are mostly from distant nurserymen. The production is confined to pears, plums, cherries and peaches. The plants that will be ready for setting next spring will be over 3,000,000,000, which with the large crops of trees already growing, yield supplies for an extensive business. Shipments of trees are made to all parts of the United States and Canada. Varieties of fruit trees suited to the most Northern or Southern limits are propagated here. The products of these nurseries have given satisfaction wherever sent, and the demand for them is constantly increasing. The immense water power of this county, its abounding timber, and its splendid climate are attracting repeated accessions of population. Its various advantages are unequaled. No causes for local disease exist, and the elements of wealth are in close proximity. The timber is chiefly post, black, white, Spanish oaks, and beech, poplar and sugar maple. A world of the finest cedar is in the adjoining county of Jackson, through which the Memphis & Charleston Railroad runs. Labor is abundant and cheap. Lands are cheaper than anywhere in the South, considering their intrinsic value, though they are gradually increasing in value. There are fine pikes in the county and the public roads are excellent most of the year. Madison county is out of debt, and does not owe a dollar. Taxes are low. There is every substantial indication that this valley of remarkable beauty, unequaled health, and wonderful fertility, will, at an early day, reach the highest state of development, and an era of the greatest prosperity will reign. So high an authority as Commodore Maury states, in his celebrated work on geography, that this valley, all things considered, is the garden spot of the United States. And such is the verdict of all who see it. Coal has been discovered in the Northern portion of Madison, and iron is also believed to exist in valuable and paying quantities. Gas is believed, by experts, to exist in the vicinity of Huntsville, and that if the test was made by boring, it would be discovered in abundance, and of a fine quality. The partial boring of a well near the city developed evidences of oil and gas such as to warrant the above opinion. Newspapers published at County Seat—Democrat (democrat), Gazette (colored republican), Independent (democrat). Mercury (democrat), New South (republican). Normal Index (educational). Postoffices in the County—Bell Factory, Berkley, Bloomfield, Brownsborough, Carmichael, Cluttsville, Dan, Fisk, Green Grove, Curly, Haden, Hayes' Store, Hazel Green, Huntsville, Lowe, Madison Cross Roads, Madison Station, Maysville, Meridianville, Monrovia, New Market, Owen's Cross Roads, Plevana, Popular Ridge, Rep, Triana, Whitesburgh, Wiley. MADISON is an incorporated town of about 500 inhabitants, in Madison county, ten miles west from Huntsville on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Its prosperity depends mostly upon the fertility of the soil in the surrounding country, and the cotton, of which about 2,000 bales are shipped from its station annually. It has eight or nine general stores; a post, telegraph and express office; Methodist, Baptist, Christian, and three colored churches, and a good academy; a very healthful place; has fine freestone water, and its society is highly moral. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land 1888 PART III. HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES IN THE STATE. CEREAL BELT. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/madison/history/other/madisonc351gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 8.3 Kb