The History of Madison Wisconsin – Surrounded by Reality

Areas & Neighborhoods

Grouping of houses, businesses and other landmarks for the Madison area broken down into geographical chunks.

Some are actual neighborhoods or historic districts, but their true borders may not be followed to the letter so all items could be fit in without having to create too many groups. Others groupings are just made up, like Central Park. This name is given to the general area where a proposed “Central Park would be located.

There is an emphasis on older historic structures which is why there is a great disparity in size of the areas. For example the far west and south side are grouped together as one while the smaller uptown area is divided into several groupings.
City, County & State Run

Anything owned or run by the government. In some cases non-government businesses were included rather than break the same type of business up into to groups. For example private schools were included with the City of Madison run public schools.

City services like Libraries, Parks, Police, Fire & Water. County, State and Federal are also here if they were located in the Madison area.
Crime
Dates, Events, Lists, etc

Want information or maybe just trivia about Madison? Interested in Unsolved Crimes and some interesting Solved Crimes? Major Fires? How about what places are supposed to be haunted?

Books written about Madison, Movies About Madison or Filmed in Madison. Who is that _____ named for?

Unusual events in the Did You Know & Do You Remember sections.

Also: By The Numbers, Halloween In Madison, Have You Seen This, Historic Event Dates, Madison TV & Radio, Magazines, Music From Madison, Sports Madison Style & Vietnam Era Unrest.
It Happened Here
Landmarks

Local, State and National Landmark Information of Madison Building
Madisonians

The people who made it all happen. Architects, Mayors, Governors, The Most Influential, Famous Visitors & Residents, Clubs & Organizations, Police Chiefs & Women.
Odd Headlines
Tragedies
University of Wisconsin

The beginning, it’s buildings, traditions, people.
Wisconsin State Capitols

Information on Madison’s three capitols. (The first Wisconsin Capitol was located in Belmont, WI) Do you know how Madison was chosen as the capital of Wisconsin and the controversy of dirty deals that surrounded it? Did you know that there were many attempts over the first 100 years to move the state government to Milwaukee?

The first Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison – “Doty’s washbowl”

The Second Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison – Collapse during construction kills 6 and injures 22 in 1893. Major fire destroys most of it in 1904.

The Current Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison – Construction took 11 years.

Featured Sections:

“Surrounded by Reality” A quote by Lee Dreyfus, future Governor of Wisconsin, while campaigning in 1978. He said “Madison is 30 square miles surrounded by reality.” Madison has grown since then; currently it's about 76 square miles. More about the site...

Today in Madison History

June 19, 1912
Camp Randall Memorial Arch dedicated