Strolling around Madison Georgia is like walking through the movie set of a stereotypical, small Southern town. Streets radiate out from the ubiquitous town square which is anchored by stern, civic buildings and surrounded by charismatic, small shops and restaurants.
It’s called “Courthouse Square” although, ironically, it houses the post office and not the local courthouse. The Morgan County Courthouse―a majestic, domed, red-bricked, Neoclassical Revival building―does however dominate the square from across the street.
Only a short walk away is Madison’s Town Park featuring a grand stage surrounded by a large, grassy lawn and landscaped gardens.
Directly opposite the stage is the beautiful Cooke Fountain. “Originally standing in front of the Morgan County Courthouse, the statue was bequeathed to the City in 1908 by the well-respected Madisonian Sarah Benham Judd Cooke as a ‘First Class Watering Hole’ for horses” explains the Visit Madison GA website. “Though the original fountain was moved and eventually lost in the early 1900s, research led to the discovery of the original molds. The fountain was recreated and is now a magnificent centerpiece to Madison’s beloved Town Park.”
Brick pathways meander through the park leading visitors to various seating areas.
There are many things to love about Town Park but my personal favorites are the large, swinging seats tucked under the shade of vine-covered arbors.
As evidenced by the below scene of Town Park in the TV series Sweet Magnolias (see More Info below), I’m not the only one that thinks Madison resembles a movie set!
As lovely as Town Park is, it’s actually Madison’s architectural heritage that has earned this town its reputation as one of Georgia’s prettiest villages. The oft-quoted line―“Madison is the prettiest village I’ve seen in the state”―is credited to Sergeant Rufus Mead Jr, a Union soldier, who passed through town in November 1864 during the American Civil War.
It’s primarily the beautifully-maintained, historic houses lining the quiet, residential streets that have earned Madison’s Historic District a place on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation ensures the Madison Historic District is recognized as a “historic place worthy of preservation”. The District is comprised of 356 buildings, a cemetery, a park, community landscaping and several other elements within a 550-acre area.
Here’s a preview of one of those splendid buildings―the Jessup-Atkinson Lindsey House (circa 1820) viewed from the back of the house along Old Post Road.
As noted on the National Register’s registration form “The Madison Historic District is an excellent example of an intact historic district spanning over a century of architectural development. The district illustrates the wide variety of types and styles of buildings used as well as the various lifestyles of its citizens and is reflective of small town life in Georgia beginning from the early 19th century. The historic area is largely intact and well preserved.”
The Visit Madison GA Welcome Center and website offer a self-guided, walking tour to showcase the treasures in Madison’s Historic District. Visitors are invited to begin the tour at the Welcome Center on Courthouse Square. The tour points out highlights, explains historic significance and shares entertaining stories.
The Dovecot House is only a couple of blocks from Courthouse Square and is the next stop on the walking tour. It was built around 1830―about 20 years after Madison’s founding in 1809.
“Sometime around 1895, Martin L. Richter renovated the home, giving it the effusive architectural details we see today” reports the Visit Madison GA Walking Tour. “It was during this time that the dovecote, seen in the side yard, was constructed. Dovecotes, or pigeon houses, were used to raise squab for the dinner table.”
It’s impossible to look at the Dovecote House without admiring the decorative architectural details that cover the structure from the porch floor to the rooftop.
Another historic home on South Main Street, known as Hunter House, is even more flamboyant. “This high style Queen Anne features an asymmetrical roofline and a square tower” reports the exhibit card in the Columns and Cottages: Madison’s Architectural Treasures exhibition at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center.
“It also features some of the most elaborate millwork in Madison. … This lacey cutwork is often referred to as ‘gingerbread’ because of its cookie-cutter appearance and the ease in which it was mass-produced in the industrialized 1870s and beyond. The elaborate bracketing and spindle work was a way in which the common man could easily update and decorate his home. This vernacular style is very common in Madison since a millwork, Madison Variety Works, existed within the town.”
“What makes Madison unique among historic districts is the large representation of architectural styles spanning the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” reports the Columns and Cottages exhibit. The architectural variety quickly becomes apparent when walking through the Historic District―one minute you’re marveling at the elaborate Queen Anne glory of the Hunter House and the next minute you’re viewing the gorgeous Craftsman style of the Paul Reid House.
As described by the Columns and Cottages exhibit, “The Craftsman architectural style was popular in the United States from 1905 to 1930. It is characterized by a low-pitched, gabled roof with wide, unenclosed eave overhangs with exposed rafters. Decorative beams or braces were commonly added under the gables for added visual interest. Massive stone piers support the full-width porch. The mixture of textures of stone, wood, clapboard and wood shingles are common for this type of bungalow.”
The Kolb-Newton House, commonly known as “Boxwood”, is considered a transitional house because it looks in more than one stylistic direction. In his book, Landmark Homes of Georgia 1733-1983, author Van Jones Martin calls out Boxwood as a “textbook example … of historic preservation”. He notes the Kolb-Newton House, circa 1852, “is almost ‘as is’, inside and outside – a preservation in purest terms”.
Martin goes on to describe the two architectural styles explaining “the grounds take up half a block and the house has two facades. The one towards the old stagecoach/post road [Old Post Road] has a classical one-story Doric portico and that towards the steepled brick church [Academy Street], a trellis-work veranda – lacy and cool. Boxwood is a mid-Victorian, transitional house in combining these two porches, looking back ward to the classical revival and forward to the picturesque eclecticism of the rest of the century.”
“As with other fine antebellum houses in Georgia there are formal parterres of boxwood in the place of a lawn, except that here both the front and rear yards are landscaped in this manner.” These gardens are outstanding!
A heritage marker, titled “Formal Southern Landscapes”, is posted on site. It explains “Like Madison’s high-style architecture, its formal landscapes were Southern translations of both prevalent trends and earlier traditions.
Boxwood gardens were an antebellum landscape feature gracing many Madison homes. Parterres were a garden form developed in Renaissance France and originally inspired by lace brocade patterns. These and other Madison gardens found form in plantings of English boxwood. Landscape architecture often echoed the architectural spirit of the residence. ‘Boxwood’ c. 1850, having two different building fronts, matched garden and porch characteristics: rigidly straight-lined for the Doric order portico and curvilinear for the Italianate porch.”
“Such eclectic design of both home and garden reflected the influence of an English aesthetic, as England was the 19th century economic, political and cultural leader, and its tastes were imitated all over the Victorian world. Thus, the 19th century parterre craze experienced in English gardens found its way into the antebellum landscapes of this and other Madison homes.”
The Shepherd-Carter-Newton-Glover House, circa 1835, is “categorized as Greek Revival style that was popular in the United States from 1830-1860. The hipped roof and the full-façade porch along with the elaborate columns are common elements of this style” according to the Columns and Cottages exhibit. The walking tour narrative calls it “a classical ‘Gone with the Wind’ type home boasting beautiful columns, wide halls, large rooms, and winding stairs”.
One look at this house reveals it is undergoing much-needed renovations.
This renovation effort reminds me of the Foster-Thomason-Miller House I featured in my previous blog post, Madison’s House Beautiful. At the time, six years ago in 2019, the house looked like this.
Now, known as the Foster-Thomason Minnix House, it looks like this.
Here’s a side-by-side, before and after comparison, featuring the front gable.
Wow! Even in a town that prides itself on outstanding historical preservation, this transformation is awe inspiring!
More Info
Previous blog posts mentioned in this blog post include:
. Madison’s House Beautiful.
I have the pleasure of living near the beautiful, historic town of Madison in Morgan County, Georgia. You can learn more about Madison GA on the Madison Morgan County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Visit Madison GA website. The Visit Madison GA self-guided walking tour can be found on this page.
The Madison Historic District―one of the largest in the state―is on the National Register of Historic Places. Go to the National Register of Historic Places website and search with reference number 89002159 to learn all about it.
As reported on Wikipedia, “Sweet Magnolias is an American romantic drama television series, developed by Sheryl J. Anderson and based on the Sweet Magnolias novels by Sherryl Woods. It stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley. The series premiered on Netflix on May 19, 2020. Its fourth season premiered on February 6, 2025. In April 2025, it was renewed for a fifth season.” I spotted Madison’s Town Park in Season 3 2023 Episode 3 “The Searchers”.
There are many movies and TV shows filmed in Madison and Morgan County, you can find a list here.
An exhibition titled Columns and Cottages: Madison’s Architectural Treasures is on display at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. Check out this page on their website for more information.
The following books and articles were consulted in the writing of this blog post:
. Landmark Homes of Georgia 1733-1983 book by Van Jones Martin which is available here on Internet Archives
. Get Schooled: An Introductory Guide to Architecture in Madison, Georgia article on the Visit Madison GA website
. Madison: A Visual Survey and Civic Design Study book by the Landscape Architecture Department at University of Georgia published in 1964 which is available here on Internet Archives
. Various Wikipedia entries.
Today’s Takeaways
1. It’s easy to take nearby sights and attractions for granted. Consider taking a day trip in your own backyard.
2. Discover quiet comfort, simple pleasures and unexpected adventure in small towns.
3. Consider supporting efforts to recognize and save “historic places worthy of preservation”. National Register of Historic Places
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