Madison

Formed January 1, 1853 (95^th county)

Madison County (13,664), Madisonville (4,396)

The Modern facility that is the county courthouse is located on the square at Main, United States Highway 190/Texas State Highway 21, and Elm streets.  The intersection of United States Highway 190 and Texas State Highway 90 is one block to the east.  Interstate Highway 45 bypasses the city to the east.  Since the county’s January 1, 1853 organizing, five courthouses have served Madison County from Madisonville the previous was built in 1896.  This latest was built in 1970 from the red brick designs of Dickson, Dickson, Buckley & Bullock.  The county was created from Grimes, Walker, and Leon counties as the 95^th county.  Madison County and Madisonville are named for United States President and author of the United States Constitution, James Madison. 

Madison County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Madison, Grimes, Leon, and Walker counties, One District Court Judge serves Madison, Leon, and Walker counties, and One County Court Judge serves Madison County.  The county is in the river area between Dallas, Texas to the north and Houston, Texas to south.  The Trinity River forms the eastern border and the Navasota River forms the western border of the county.  The county center is 4.2 miles Northwest of Madisonville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Leon, Houston, Walker, Grimes, Brazos, and Robertson counties. 

The area of the county is 472 square miles.  It is 242 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 149 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 28.95 persons per square mile making it 103 out of 254 in the state.  Madison County has 34.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 45 goes north to south from Leon County to Walker County.  United States Highway 190 enters from Brazos County to the west, joins Interstate Highway 45 at Madisonville, and exits south into Walker County.  The county is a flat rectangle with western half bent down.  Madisonville is near the county center.  Madisonville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 32.2% of the county population.