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Interesting Facts
- Like so many other communities, Madison was not immune to the terrible reach of the Civil War. On May 17, 1864, Union troops attempted to disrupt the supply line between Alabama and Georgia by taking over the railroad at Madison Station. The resulting skirmish cost 20 people their lives, and the Federal forces controlled the station until the war's end.
- Golfers take note: Madison County is the first stop on the famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. More than 100 miles of immaculate fairway 378 holes in all are located at eight sites, stretching across the entire state of Alabama. Golfers from near and far vacation here to "play the trail."
- Just a few miles east of Madison is the massive Redstone Arsenal, part of which falls under the auspices of the US Army and is used as training facilities for NATO personnel. The arsenal itself came into being in 1943 when the government created it to serve as a chemical weapons plant. Today, primary tenants of the complex are the Army's Aviation and Missile Command Center and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
- Alabama's Golden Triangle includes the cities of Huntsville, Decatur and Athens. And at the heart of that triangle? You guessed it: Madison. The city's central location in relation to these three important commerce centers helps explain why its population saw a 98% increase from 1990 to 2000.
- Madison County, of which Huntsville is the seat, was created in 1809 by the governor of the Mississippi Territory and named in honor of President James Madison.
- Go back 20 years, and Madison, Alabama, was a sleepy farming community that had sprung up along the railroad some 10 miles west of Huntsville. As the saying goes, "That was then ..." Today, Madison enjoys the full benefits of the region's technology boom: Almost 70% of its residents have at least a bachelor's degree, and one out of every 11 is an engineer.
- If you visit between October and March and are shocked at the excessive honking you hear outside ... well, all the racket isn't because Madison County drivers are rude. Instead, you can blame it on noisy commuters from Canada. That's right: the Great White North. Each winter, thousands of Canada geese make the trip to the fowl-friendly waters of Wheeler National Wildlife Reserve, a 35,000-acre protected area whose terrain ranges from wetlands to pine uplands.
- AMCOM (as folks in the know call the US Army Aviation and Missile Command) at the Redstone Arsenal is responsible for testing and developing the country's ballistic missile programs. Among key projects that have been researched and developed at Redstone are Jupiter, Stinger, and Patriot missiles.
- The world's largest space-themed attraction is found in the heart of Alabama. At the US Space and Rocket Center in nearby Huntsville, visitors can stand under a "full stack" a space shuttle, its external tank and two rocket boosters. This is also home to "space camp," where kids of all ages (even grown-up ones) can experience g-forces, weightlessness and simulated space missions.
- A growth spurt of epic proportion? In 1990, Madison was a sleepy little town of just over 14,000. In a little over 10 years, that number more than doubled to 36,500, making Madison one of the fastest growing cities not only in the state but also in the entire Southeast.
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