 The Borough of Madison is a small suburban community
in southeast Morris County, New Jersey, about fifteen miles due west of
Times Square. Madison borders on five other municipalities: the boroughs of
Florham Park and Chatham are to the north and east, the townships of
Chatham, Harding and Morris are to the south and west. Morristown and Summit
are nearby, to the northwest and southeast, respectively.
(See regional map.)
Madison is served by Morris and Essex Morristown
Line trains of NJ Transit
direct to Penn Station in New York City. It also provides service to Hoboken
(with connections to lower New York City by the Hudson Tubes.) In addition,
Morris County Metro provides local bus service.
NJ State Route 124 passses through Madison. From a
distance access by auto is easiest from the NJ Route 24 freeeway. If
traveling west use Exit 7A and then follow Route 124 through Chatham to
Madison. If traveling east use Exit 2A, turn right off the ramp and take the
first left onto Park Avenue. Follow Park Avenue into Madison.
Madison is located on a ridge of land extending from
near Summit northwest toward Morristown. This ridge is made up of the
remains of the terminal moraine left by the Wisconsin Glacier more than
10,000 years ago. Low-lying wetlands are on either side of this ridge; the
Great Swamp to the southwest and the Black Meadows/Troy Meadows area to the
northeast. These lowlands are part of the remains of Lake Passaic, which was
formed by melting ice as the glacier receded. Until the lake disappeared the
higher elevation portions of Madison were on a small island in the lake. (See
map of lake.)
Eventually the lake drained when the ice receded
enough to reveal the Little Falls Gap to the north. However, the signs of
the glacier can still be seen around town. There are many "potholes" in
Madison, which mark the place where huge chunks of ice were left behind to
melt, buried in the rubble which had been pushed forward by the glacier. One
of the largest of these is visible from Glenwild Road, on the property of
Drew University. In recent years Morris County acquired the "Moraine"
property as public parkland. This is part of the outwash plain from the
glacier in its terminal position.
This ridge provided a natural route from the Short
Hills gap in the Watchung Mountains to the higher country north and west of
Morristown. The Minnisink Trail, used by the Lenape Indians, passed along
what is now Kings Road in Madison. In 1804, the Morris Turnpike was
established along the route of present Main Street. In 1837 (only seven
years after the first public railroad in the United States!) the Morris and
Essex railroad was completed, following this natural ridge through Madison.
Being on the "main road", Madison developed earlier than many neighboring
towns and was heavily influenced by its access to good transportation.
The earliest settlers of European descent arrived
about 1715 and established "Bottle Hill" at the crossroads of Ridgedale
Avenue and Kings Road. The Luke Miller house at 105 Ridgedale Avenue is
thought to be the oldest remaining home in the Borough, built around 1730.
Morris County, created in 1739, was divided into three townships. The area
in Madison north of Kings Road was in Hanover Township and the area to the
south in Morris Township. A meeting house for the Presbyterian Church of
South Hanover, as Madison was then called, was started in 1747 where the
Presbyterian Cemetery still exists between Kings Road and Madison Avenue.
Later, in 1806, Chatham Township was formed, comprising the present Madison,
Chatham Borough, Chatham Township, and Florham Park, and thus the political
division of the village was ended. In 1834, the name of the village was
changed to Madison, and in 1889, with a population of 3,250
persons, it seceded from Chatham Township and became a borough in order to
develop a local water supply system.
Madison's growth accelerated after the Civil War.
The railroad provided good transportation for its farm produce. Later it
made possible the establishment of a flourishing rose growing industry,
still commemorated in Madison's title as The Rose City. The Morris
and Essex Line became one of America's first commuter railroads, attracting
well-to-do families and contributing to the development of "Millionaire's
Row," which stretched from downtown Madison to Morristown.
The rose industry and the large estates in the area
attracted working class people of all kinds. As a result, Madison very early
developed a varied population, both in terms of socio-economic status and
ethnic background. The original settlers were of British stock; French
settlers came after the Revolution; African-Americans have been members of
the community from early in the 19th century; Irish came in mid century and
then Germans and Italians around the turn of the century. To this day there
is a substantial community of Italian descent in Madison. Today Madison
remains a diversified community, with many of the more recent immigrants
coming from Central and South America and from Asia.
Rapid population growth in the 20th century,
especially in the 1920's and following World War II, has created an almost
fully developed municipality. Madison, with an area of four square miles,
has a population of approximately 16,000. The dominant land use is
single-family housing, occupying 52 percent of the developed land, largely
on lots well under one acre. Public and quasi-public uses occupy 25 percent
of the developed land and commercial uses 13 percent. Most of the remaining
land is used for multi-family housing with less than two percent vacant.
Industrial uses are minimal.
The center of Madison's borough government is in the
Hartley Dodge Memorial building, an imposing structure located across King's
Road from the railroad station. The borough government provides a high level
of services to the community including: efficient police and fire services;
comprehensive refuse collection and recycling programs; a public water
supply system and an electric power distribution utility. A sewage disposal
plant, located in Chatham Borough, is operated jointly by Madison and
Chatham. Its capacity is adequate to meet local needs and it has recently
been substantially upgraded to meet revised federal and state standards of
performance. The Borough is well endowed with parklands and has strong
recreation and seniors programs. The Health Department provides
comprehensive services, not only to Madison but to other communities on a
contract basis.
Though Madison today could be characterized as a
"bedroom community", since most of its citizens work out of town, it has a
special character generated by an ethnically diverse population, a wide
range of housing types, the influence of local universities, and its unique
historical development.
Madison is known as a community with strong
educational, cultural and historical amenities. The Free Public Library of
the Borough of Madison is exceptional for a community of Madison's size and
is widely regarded as one of the finest small community public libraries in
New Jersey. The program of Drew University Minicourses at the library gives
adults a convenient means for college level courses in an informal
atmosphere.
Madison is the home of Drew University and has the
Madison-Florham Park Campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University and the
College of St. Elizabeth immediately adjacent.
There is a strong public school system, which
maintains relatively small class sizes and a broad curriculum. There are
three elementary schools, one junior high school, and one high school. The
high school is also attended by students from nearby Harding Township. In
addition, St. Vincent Martyr Church operates a parochial elementary school
here.
Madison is the home of the Shakespeare Theatre of
New Jersey, the Playwright's Theater of New Jersey, the Museum of Early
Trades and Crafts, and the Adult School of Chatham, Madison, and Florham
Park.
Madison's downtown is a thriving central business
district. It is supported by a Downtown Development Commission and a
Downtown Manager. The Madison Civic Commercial Historic District, which
includes much of "downtown" as well as Borough Hall and the train station,
is on the State Register of Historic Places. At any time there is very
little vacant commercial space. In recent years Madison has become noted for
the number and quality of its restaurants.
Giralda Farms, a planned office development,
occupies 175 acres of the former Dodge Estate in Madison. Five of a possible
seven projects have been completed. These include the offices of Schering
Plough, Atlantic Mutual Insurance, Maersk Lines, and Wyeth. The development
regulations require that 85% of the land be maintained as open space with
almost all vehicle parking underground.
Madison has a wide range of housing opportunities,
from garden apartments, affordable housing and starter homes to large
residences. Residential areas exhibit many positive attributes, with
neighborhood parks and tree lined streets which reflect the historical
development of neighborhoods. The initiation of direct train service to
Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan has made Madison even more desirable for
commuters. Recently the Borough Council has taken steps to preserve the
current residential character of Madison by limiting the size of new homes
on small lots.
Madison has been very successful in providing
federally subsidized low and moderate income housing. The Madison Housing
Authority, established in 1981, has been responsible for the construction of
a two senior citizen housing complexes (one with seventy-nine units and the
other with twelve) and fifty townhouse units. The latter have been developed
under a "scatter site" plan and are integrated into the community. The work
of the Housing Authority has been nationally recognized for its quality and
performance and its management expertise is in demand from other
communities.
For the latest demographic data on Madison from the
2000 Census, go
here.
You can also read about
Madison in
Madison Magazine.
Please send comments or suggestions for this
page to fdb@aya.yale.edu
Page author: Frank Benedict
Page Updated:
02/04/2010 02:31:30 PM |
