Georgia Natural Wonder #132 - Morgan County - Madison (Part 2). 1,502

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Georgia Natural Wonder #132 - Morgan County - Madison (Part 2)

We came to Hard Labor Creek State Park in our last post  Hard Labor Creek - Morgan County GNW #132 (Part 1),as the Georgia Natural Wonder #132 to bring us to this part of the state. We did a tangent on the rest of Morgan County. But our real reason for coming here was to explore the town of Madison. I love the Antebellum era of Georgia, especially the architecture. There are 107 images today, over 30 edits. Almost all the images are mine on the homes section during my travels last summer. Can see some arm reflections off window glass as I did the stay in the truck / lazy man's driving tour.

Madison

Madison is a city in Morgan County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke-Sandy Springs Combined Statistical Area. The population was 3,979 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Morgan County and the site of the Morgan County Courthouse.



The Historic District of Madison is one of the largest in the state. Many of the nearly 100 antebellum homes have been carefully restored. Bonar Hall is one of the first of the grand-style Federal homes built in Madison during the town's cotton-boom heyday from 1840 to 1860.



Budget Travel magazine voted Madison as one of the world's 16 most picturesque villages.



Madison is featured on Georgia's Antebellum Trail, and is designated as one of the state's Historic Heartland cities.

Early 19th century

Madison was described in an early 19th-century issue of White's Statistics of Georgia as "the most cultured and aristocratic town on the stagecoach route from Charleston to New Orleans." In an 1849 edition of White's Statistics of Georgia, the following was written about Madison: "In point of intelligence, refinement, and hospitality, this town acknowledges no superior." On December 12, 1809, the town, named for 4th United States president, James Madison, was incorporated.


Madison the town and Madison the 4th President.

While many believe that Sherman spared the town because it was too beautiful to burn during his March to the Sea, the truth is that Madison was home to pro-Union Congressman (later Senator) Joshua Hill. While Joshua Hill was mayor, during the Civil War, he saved Madison from the Union Army.  He knew General Sherman’s brother from his time in Washington in the House of Representatives.  He went to meet General Sherman in Lithonia, Georgia to retrieve his son’s body, recently killed in the war, and to ask General Sherman not to burn down the town of Madison.  General Sherman agreed, but did not come to Madison.  When General Slocum approached Madison on the Dixie Highway, Joshua Hill went out to meet him.  He asked the General to spare Madison. 


Troops in Madison.

General Slocum honored the request and only burned the cotton gin, the railroad station, and anything that contributed to the war effort, but not houses.


Burning Madison Station.

So his sparing the town was more political than appreciation of its beauty.



Train Depot today.





Civil War in Madison.



Madison burned twice.





Madison Historic District in Madison, Georgia is a historic district that was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Its boundaries were increased in 1990 and it then encompassed 356 contributing buildings, three other contributing structures, four contributing objects, and three contributing sites. It includes:

Morgan County Courthouse, built in 1905 of brick and limestone.



The courthouse is "an excellent example of the elaborate Beaux Arts style". It was designed by J. S. Golucke and Company and built by the Winder Lumber Company. It was described as being "distinguished by a pronounced, enriched entablature, limestone lintels, sills and string courses, giant order Corinthian or Composite columns and a large, domed cupola".

Let's do the rest in Alphabetical order.

Baldwin-Ruffin-Lanier House, c. 1840  (Georgia Female College) Foster - Thomason House



Bonar Hall

A brick Georgian home built in 1839 by cotton-magnate John Byne Walker and Eliza Fannin, one of the first "grand homes" in Madison, flanked on either side by brick summer houses and in the back by the original brick kitchen and two matching "necessaires".



The house has a Victorian front porch and side porch both added in the early 1880s by the second owners, the William Broughton's, and was carefully restored by the present owners, Newton's, cousins of Eliza Fannin.

The Boat House c. 1850

At the core of this grand home is the original 1850 structure that did, in fact, look a good bit like a boat.  The prow-shaped front of the ground floor was replicated in a setback second floor that was suggestive of a ship’s cabin, and the chimney rose up in the middle like the funnel of a steamboat – hence the name “Boat House.”  The lore of Boat House is further enhanced by its possible association with “Commodore” George Nelson Dexter, who moved to Madison in 1851 and worked as a carriage maker until going off to the Civil War. 



Boxwood, built in 1851-2 by Wilds Kolb, Madison's richest man before the war. It is a town house based on "A Suburban Cottage in the Italian Style" from Andrew Jackson Downing's pattern book called The Architecture of Country Houses.



It has, unusually, three stories and two facades, one facing Old Post Road, which has a classical one-story Doric portico and another facing Academy Street which is Italianate in style with a veranda.



The original formal English boxwood gardens grace both entrances.



It is now owned by the Floyd Newton's, whose family has owned it since 1906.

Broughton - Sanders - Mason House

A blend of several stylistic periods including Greek Revival and Victorian, this house was built to face two streets. It still retains its original boxwood gardens.


Also known as the Broughton-Sanders-Mason-McWilliams House.

Calvalry Baptist Church

Originally built as a white clapboard building for the Madison Baptist Church, a white congregation, this property was sold to the Freeman's Bureau after the Civil War for $400 and bought by the black congregation. The Madison Baptist Church had moved to its present location on South Main Street in 1858. During the 1870s, the congregation "came down the hill," made the bricks on the grounds, and constructed the present building.



Carter-Newton House,

A Greek Revival "grand home", built circa 1849 by Carter Sheppard, a major cotton grower with 2,440 acres in the county and a saw mill. It was purchased in 1868 by Electa Carter and was modified somewhat in 1906 by her cousins, the Edward Newton's, who joined the Carter's there, the house remaining with that family ever since.



Church Of The Advent

The first Episcopal parish was assembled in 1846, closed in 1933 and reformed in 1953.  The current church building, built in 1844, has been used since 1961 and the parish house was acquired four years later. The original slave gallery is now used to house the organ.



Dovecote House

The Dovecote house was built in 1830 by Isaac Walker for his daughter Cornelia and her husband Thomas Jefferson Burney. Though this was around twenty years after the founding of Madison, archeological digs here have uncovered evidence of several buildings on the lot before this home, including a tavern!



First Baptist Church, designed by William C. Wilson, built in 1858 with brick donated by John Byne Walker

Fitzpatrick House, c.1850

Another great porch – this is the Fitzpatrick-Walker-Miles House.



Godfrey Hunt House



Heritage Hall

Another Greek Revival home, built in 1811 and purchased in 1830 by Dr. Elijah Evans Jones, a prominent physician in Madison who extensively modified and expanded it, adding the front porch and columns. Dr. Jones was also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Female College in Madison and a major shareholder in the Georgia Railroad. Formerly known as the Jones-Turnell-Manley House, it was constructed 200 feet from its current location and moved in 1909 when the owner at the time, Mr. Stephen Turnell, sold a portion of the home's acreage for the construction of a new Methodist church. The entire home was lifted, placed on logs, and pulled by horses and mules to its current site. In 1923, Mr. Turnell transformed the home into Traveler's Inn. Heritage Hall was a private residence until 1977 when it was donated to the Morgan County Historical, Inc., and it has been operated ever since as a house museum, open daily.



Honeymoon, built in 1851 by Charles Mallory Irwin

This home, known as the “Honeymoon” mansion, was owned by the Godfrey-Candler-Hunt family. If you know the history of Atlanta, this house was home to Charles Candler the son of the founder of Emory University and the nephew of the man responsible for Coca-Cola’s early growth. As you exit out one of the back doors, you move into a beautifully manicured property of five acres.



Hunter House

The Hunter House (circa 1883 - 1887) has been in one family since it was built as a wedding gift from John Hudson Hunter for his bride Ida Clark. This Queen Anne style house is the most photographed home in Madison. All millwork on the inside and outside of the home was handmade in Madison. The elaborate spindle-work porch is the most distinctive feature of this house.



Jessup - Atkinson House

A huge wrap-around porch is the most distinctive feature of this house, which stands directly across South Main Street from the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center.    The house is sometimes called "Luhurst" in memory of Lula Hurst who travelled the country performing an act consisting of illusions of levitation and strength.  She later married her promoter Paul Atkinson, who at one time owned the Battle of Atlanta cyclorama, and settled down in Madison until she died in 1949.  The home, which has a wonderful garden on the Old Post Road side, was extensively renovated in the early 2000s.



Joshua Hill House,

A Greek Revival home built around 1840 by Joshua Hill, noted Georgian of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. He was born in 1812 and drawn into the American or Know-Nothing party when the Whig party in Ga. collapsed and was elected to Congress in 1856, defeating Linton Stephens. An outspoken opponent of succession, Hill resigned his seat in 1861 rather than withdraw with the other members of the Ga. delegation.



In 1863 he made an unsuccessful bid for the governorship. After the war, Hill participated actively in the work of Reconstruction as a member of the constitutional convention of 1865 and as a U.S. As a friend of General William Sherman while in Congress, he may be responsible for having saved Madison from destruction by pleading with Gen. Sherman, before his famous "March to the Sea", not to burn his town.

LaFlora



Madison Baptist & Methodist Church



Madison - Morgan Cultural Center - Madison Graded School

A fine old two-story Romanesque Revival red brick building designed by Tinsley and Wilson and built in 1895, the first graded schoolhouse in the southeast.



Last used as a school in 1957, it has operated since 1976 as the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center and has the original auditorium and school bell which still rings for the many visitors who enjoy the full schedule of exhibitions, performances and other programs throughout the year.



Magnolia House

This Queen Anne style home has recently undergone extensive renovations after serving as home to the St. James Catholic Church. During a previous renovation, a trap door was discovered leading to a tunnel extending towards the Madison Presbyterian Church. The tunnel remains a mystery, but it is speculated to have been part of the underground railroad.



Martin-Baldwin-Weaver House, 1850

The six fluted Doric columns, the distinctive pilasters on the corners, the classical doorway with sidelights and transom, the cantilevered balcony, and the wide entablature at the cornice all combine to make the façade of this house, according to the respected Guide to the Architecture of Georgia, “one of the most fully realized examples of Greek Revival architecture in the state.” 



Oak House, 1897

This Classic Revival house was built on the site of the Godfrey-Walton House which was built in the early 1800s and burned in 1890. Extensive renovations were completed in 1994 by the present owners, tripling the size of the original house. The home was named Oak House as a tribute to the many oak trees on the property and to the oak carvings in the original stairway banisters which remain in the house today.



Newton House



Rogers House - Rose Cottage

This plantation Plain style home is a prime example of the early architecture in the South. The house was recently restored and furnished by the City of Madison and Morgan County and is open daily for tours. Adjacent to the Rogers House is the Rose Cottage, also available for touring.



Stagecoach House, 1810

One of the oldest structures in Madison, this house was an inn when Old Post Road was part of the stagecoach route between Charleston and New Orleans. During stagecoach days, it had wings on either side. These were later moved to the side property for use as guest houses.



Stokes -McHenry House

This late Federal-Greek Revival style house has been occupied by descendants of the original owners for seven generations. The house is noted for its old manuscripts and first editions.



St. Paul AME Church, with E. P. Neal as builder

Turnell - Butler Hotel (Oliver Hardy)





TRD Addendum - Other homes photographed.



A Step back in time.





Historic House after House.



A sedge-way to our next section, servant quarters at one of the homes.



Jim Crow era

In 1895 Madison was reported to have an oil mill with a capital of $35,000, a soap factory, a fertilizer factory, four steam ginneries, a mammoth compress, two carriage factories, a furniture factory, a grist and flouringmill, a bottling works, a distillery with a capacity of 120 gallons a day, an ice factory with a capital of $10,500, a canning factory with a capital of $10,000, a bank with a capital of $75,000, surplus $12,000, and a number of small industries operated by individual enterprise.


Looking for a vintage Madison image, but think this is a reproduction. Can you spot the 2 giveaways?

Against the backdrop of this Jim Crow-era prosperity, white Madisonians participated in at least three documented lynchings of African Americans. In February 1890, after a rushed trial involving knife-wielding jurors, Brown Washington, a 15-year-old, was found guilty of the murder of a 9-year-old local white girl. After the verdict, though the sheriff with the governor's approval, called up the Madison Home Guard to protect Washington, "only three militiamen and none of the officers"  responded to the order. Washington was thus easily taken from jail by a posse of ten men organized by a "leading local businessman." Described as "among the best citizens," they promptly handed him over to a mob of 300+ waiting outside the courthouse. From there, he was taken to a telegraph pole behind a Mr. Poullain's residence, allowed a prayer, then strung up and shot, his body mutilated by more than a hundred bullets. Afterwards, in the patriarchal exhibition-style common of southern lynchings, a sign was posted on the telegraph pole: "Our women and children will be protected." His body was not taken down until noon the next day.



According to Brundage's account of the lynching of Brown Washington in Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930:

The open participation of men 'of all ages and standing in life,' the carefully organized public meeting that planned the mob's course of action, the obvious complicity of the militia, and the ritualized execution of Washington all highlight the degree to which the lynching was sanctioned by the community at large. Shared attitudes toward women, sexuality, and black criminality, combined with local bonds of community and family, focused the fears and rage of whites on Washington and guaranteed mass involvement in his execution.

In the aftermath, though local and state authorities vowed to thoroughly investigate the lynching as well as the Madison Home Guard's dereliction of duty, just a week later a grand jury was advised by a judge of the superior court of Madison that any investigation would be a waste of time. In addition, the state body charged with investigating the home guard's non-response reported that their absence had been satisfactorily explained and no tribunal would be convened to investigate the matter.



Although the local Madisonian newspaper failed to report on the 1890 extra-judicial murder of Mr. Washington, an even earlier first lynching by Madisonians of a man they similarly pulled out of the old stone county jail appears in the contemporary accounts from the Atlanta Constitution.



In 1919, ten years after the erection of a Lost Cause memorial in front of the newly-built Morgan County courthouse, a third lynching occurred in the dark of night a few days before Thanksgiving. This time, citizens skipped the show-trials altogether, opting to travel to the home of Mr. Wallace Baynes in what one paper of the day called an "arresting party," though no charges against Mr. Baynes were stipulated in the news account. Baynes shot at the party, striking Mr. Frank F. Ozburn of Madison in the head, killing him instantly. In response, the mob outside his home grew to 40-50 men. Despite the arrival of Madison Sheriff C.S. Baldwin, Mr. Baynes was pulled from his home by a rope and shot near the Little River. Afterwards, the sheriff present at the lynching said he could not identify any of the men who came for Mr. Baynes, despite the fact that they arrived in cars and lit up Mr. Baynes' home with the headlights of their vehicles. In an editorial that argued that mobs in the south were no worse than mobs in the north yet condemned future lynchings, the local Madisonian claimed: "There is not now and perhaps will never be, any friction between the races here."



The Lost Cause monument erected in 1909 by the Morgan County Daughters of the Confederacy in front of the courthouse where Mr. Baynes was not afforded a trial was inscribed in part: "NO NATION ROSE/SO WHITE AND FAIR, NONE FELL SO PURE OF CRIME." In the 1950s the monument was moved to Hill Park, a Madison city property donated by the descendants of Joshua Hill, the aforementioned pro-Union senator who before the civil war resigned his position rather than support secession.

Present Day

Madison has one of the largest historic districts in the state of Georgia, and tourists from all over the world come to marvel at the antebellum architecture of the homes.



According to the Madison Historic Preservation Commission, "The Madison Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is Madison's foremost tourist attraction.



Preservation of the district and of each property within its boundary provides for the protection of Madison's unique historic character and quality environment. Madison's preservation efforts reflect a nationwide movement to preserve a "sense of place" amid generic modern development."



TRD goes overboard capturing Madison. Way overboard but it's wonderful.



The Historic Preservation Commission consists of seven unelected/appointed members of the community. Before making exterior changes to their homes, property owners in the historic district must submit to a Historic Preservation Commission design review process, (meetings held once a month). If they receive a certificate of appropriateness they may then apply for a county building permit. Administrative HPC approval is required for roof replacement, fence installation (maximum heights apply), and some hardscape applications. Parking pads, demolitions, modern siding applications, and window replacements are rarely approved.

Culture and parks

Madison is home to a handful of art galleries and museums. The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center (MMCC) provides a regional focus for performing and visual arts, plus permanent exhibits including a historical exhibit of Georgia's Piedmont region. The Center occupies an elegantly restored 1895 Romanesque Revival building and is located in the heart of Madison's nationally registered Historic District. Athens band, R.E.M., recorded an MTV Unplugged session at Madison-Morgan Cultural Center in 1991, where they played "Losing My Religion" with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Because of the legal dispute between Viacom and YouTube only a Japanese version of the permformance is available on YouTube. The song won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1992.



The Morgan County African American Museum is located in Madison.



Heritage Hall is maintained by the Morgan County Historical Society and has been restored for its architectural and historical significance. Heritage Hall was built in Greek Revival style in 1811 and was a private residence until 1977.



The Madison Artists' Guild has more than 150 members and is a nonprofit organization dedicated education and the encouragement of artistic endeavors in its members and the community through planned programs and regular gatherings.



Madison Museum of Fine Art, a charitable non-profit museum, is also located in the city.A member of the American Association of Museums, the Madison Museum of Fine Art collects, preserves, interprets, and imaginatively displays original visual art by internationally renowned art masters in a lively, intimate, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere for the education, edification, and spiritual nourishment of all persons living and traveling in Georgia. Visitors will find original works by such well-loved artists as Rembrandt, Renoir, Picasso, Dali and Calder. Changing exhibitions ensure that returning visitors will always find something new! After touring the Museum, visit the outdoor Sculpture Garden with rose arbor chapel and Tea Terrace, all in view of the stately courthouse dome and two historic house museums.



There are four parks in the city limits. Wellington, Washington, and Hill Park are designated for active play, whereas Town Park is designed for events and public gatherings.


Town Park gathering

In popular culture

Parts of the 2017 film American Made starring Tom Cruise were shot in the Morgan County Courthouse.



Significant parts of the movie Goosebumps starring Jack Black were filmed in Madison and at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center.



In Harry Turtledove's final Southern Victory novel Volume 11: In at the Death, Madison was the site of an important climax to the long running series.



I'll Fly Away (1991–93), an NBC series starring Sam Waterston as a southern lawyer at the dawn of the civil rights movement, was shot largely in historic Madison.



The historic mansion Bonar Hall was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's hospital in HBO's Warm Springs.



Road Trip was filmed in Madison.



The 1978 movie The Great Bank Hoax starring Ned Beatty, Richard Basehart and Charlene Dallas was filmed in Madison.



Portions of the TV series, October Road were filmed in Madison.



Portions of the TV series, The Originals', were filmed in Madison. The show was a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries.



Hissy Fit, a novel by Mary Kay Andrews, is set in Madison.



The main character of the webcomic, "Check, Please!" Eric "Bitty" Bittle is noted as being from Madison.



Notable People

We covered George Andrews in Morgan County (Part 1) as he was a folk artist known as the "Dot Man". His son's are worth a second mention as Madison Notable People.

Benny Andrews nationally recognized as an artist, teacher, author, activist, and advocate of the arts, grew up in rural Morgan County.



Raymond Andrews (June 6, 1934 – November 25, 1991), African-American novelist, grew up in rural Morgan County.



George Gordon Crawford (August 24, 1869 – March 20, 1936), industrialist, was born in Madison.



Monday Floyd carpenter and Georgia Assemblyman who was harassed, threatened, and attacked by the Ku Klux Klan until he fled to Atlanta.

Oliver "Ollie" Hardy (born Norvell Hardy) (January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957), comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, lived in Madison as a child where his Mother owned a hotel called The Hardy House. The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center is a preserved Romanesque Revival schoolhouse housing the room where Oliver Hardy attended first grade.



Albert T. Harris World War II naval hero was born in Madison.


A ship was named after him

William Coleman "Bill" Hartman, Jr., March 17, 1915 – March 16, 2006 - The Washington Redskins' running back, started playing American football in Madison.



Joshua Hill (January 10, 1812 – March 6, 1891) was a United States Senator who lived in Madison. During the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman, a friend of Hill, did not burn Madison, Georgia on his "March to the Sea".



Lancelot Johnston (1790–1866) resided in Madison. Johnston is credited with having perfected the process of extracting oil from cotton seed. He also invented the cotton seed huller.


Snow Hill - lost to fire - was once the home of Lancelot Johnston, whose home was once named for its ivory complexion.

Eugenius Aristides Nisbet began his practice of law in Madison Georgia, before later being elected as one of the three initial justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1845.



Brooks Pennington Jr., Georgia businessman, philanthropist and politician, operated his father's seed store on Main Street.


Pennington family

Seaborn Reese (November 28, 1846 – March 1, 1907), the American politician, jurist and lawyer, was born in Madison. Reese filled the seat for Georgia in the United States House of Representatives during the 47th United States Congress. He was reelected to the 48th and 49th Congresses, serving from December 4, 1882, until March 3, 1887.

Mark Schlabach, the American sports journalist, New York Times best-selling author and columnist and reporter for ESPN.com lives in Madison.



William Tappan Thompson, humorist and writer who co-founded the Savannah Morning News newspaper in the 1850s, lived in Madison in the 1840s and worked on the city's first newspaper, The Southern Miscellany.



In 1863, as the editor of the Morning News, he discussed a variant of a design that would ultimately become the Confederacy's second national flag, which would become known as the "Stainless Banner" or the "Jackson Flag" for its first use as the flag that draped the coffin of Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.


I did not know this was also self named by Thompson as the "White Man's Flag"8-O

Jesse Triplett, lead guitarist with Collective Soul, was born in Madison and attended the Morgan County School System.



Philip Lee Williams (born January 30, 1950), novelist, poet, and essayist, grew up in Madison. He is the winner of many literary awards including the 2004 Michael Shaara Prize for his novel A Distant Flame (St. Martin's), an examination of southerners who were against the Confederacy's position in the American Civil War. He is also a winner of the Townsend Prize for Fiction for his novel The Heart of a Distant Forest, and has been named Georgia Author of the Year four times by the Georgia Writers Association. In 2007, he was recipient of a Georgia Governor's Award in the Humanities.



Whew, Madison Georgia. What a great stop along I-20. Madison and Washington really great preserved time capsules of Georgia, that is why I wanted a theme on Classic South in this Wonders Forum. Searching for a Natural Wonder Girl theme today and I hearken to the wife of the town's namesake, Dolley Madison.



Dolley Madison did much to define the role of the President's spouse, known only much later by the title First Lady—a function she had sometimes performed earlier for the widowed Thomas Jefferson. Consequently, she is the only woman to have functioned as U.S. presidential First Lady for two different administrations. The Dolly Madison Bakery was started in 1937, and was named after Dolley Madison, although with the first name spelled differently. So naturally today's GNW Gals are Dolley MADISON cupcake girls.