The City of Madison is located 10 miles north of Mississippi’s capital city, Jackson. Madison has a "hometown" feel even though it is Mississippi’s fastest growing city.
Madison is named for James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.
The city grew up along a bustling railroad track in pre-Civil War Mississippi. It was 1856 when the Illinois Central Railroad opened its Madison Station, the forerunner of today’s City of Madison. Although near-by Madisonville, a settlement established along the stagecoach route of the Natchez Trace, boasted a race tack, two banks, a wagon factory, and at least one hotel, its residents could not resist the lure of the future. The newly established railroad community began to thrive, and Madisonville soon became extinct.
The City operates under a Mayor/Board of Aldermen form of government. The governing Body of the City consists of the Mayor and a five-member Board of Aldermen, four members of which are elected from separate wards, while the fifth member is elected at large. Both the Mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen are elected for concurrent four-year terms.
Madison's dictator for life, I mean mayor, for the last who knows how many years has been Mary Hawkins-Butler.
The official Web site is at http://www.ci.madison.ms.us/ or http://www.madisonthecity.com/