Madison

Formed January 1, 1851 (83^rd county)

Madison County (21,192), Marshall (780), Mars Hill (2,011)

The Classical Revival 1907 courthouse in Marshall serves Madison County.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Baileys Branch Road.  United States Highway 25 Business is Main Street in this part of town.  Richard Sharp Smith provided the red brick building designs.  The structure features a dome with a working clock and columns.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county was created on January 1, 1851 from Buncombe and Yancey counties as the 83^rd county with Marshall as the only county seat.  Madison County was named after United States President James Madison.  The county seat is named for United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. 

Madison County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-seven Superior Court Judges serve Madison, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties, One District Court Judge serves Madison, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, and Yancey counties and a court clerk serves Madison County (judicial.)  The county is on the western border with Tennessee.  Asheville, North Carolina is directly south and Knoxville, Tennessee is west of the county.  The county center is 2.2 miles North-Northeast of Marshall.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Tennessee and Yancey, Buncombe, and Haywood counties. 

The area of the county is 451 square miles.  It is 58 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 79 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 47.0 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 100 in the state.  Madison County has 15.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 26 crosses the county from north to south from Tennessee to Buncombe County.  United States Highway 19 comes from Yancey County, northeast, and joins Interstate Highway 26 into Buncombe County.  United States Highway 23 is joined with Interstate Highway 26 from Tennessee to Buncombe County.  United States Highways 25/70 enter from Tennessee, northwest, and exit into Buncombe County, south.  The county looks like a tank facing northeast.  Marshall is located in the southwest quarter of the county.  Mars Hill is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Marshall is the county seat and Mars Hill is the largest city.  Marshall is 3.7% of the county population while Mars Hill is 9.5% of the county population.  This county is in the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.