Madison, East Monroe
Madison, East Monroe | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Clockwise: Riverfront Trail, Fourth Avenue, the downtown skyline as seen from across the Madison River, Harris Riverfront Park, and the Madison Welcome Center at Heritage Station. | |
| Nickname: The Jewel City/The River City/The River & Rail City/Train City | |
| Location within Madison County Location within Madison County | |
| Country |  Ibica |
| State |  East Monroe |
| County | Madison |
| Settled | 1275 |
| Incorporated | 1721 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor-Council |
| • Mayor | Arlo Raines (P) |
| • City Council | Councilmembers |
| Area | |
| • Total | 218.46 sq mi (565.8 km2) |
| Elevation | 564 ft (172 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 195,364 |
| • Rank | Ibica: 28th, East Monroe: 2nd |
| • Density | 894.28/sq mi (345.28/km2) |
| • Demonym | Madisonian |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Central Standard Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (Central Daylight Time) |
| Area code | 121 & 495 |
Madison is a city in Madison County in the Ibican state of East Monroe. It is the county seat of Madison County, and largest city in the Greater Madison Area. A historic and bustling city of commerce and heavy industry, Madison has benefited from its location on the Madison River.
Surrounded by extensive natural resources, the industrial sector is based in coal, oil, chemicals and steel, all of which support Madison's diversified economy. The city is a vital rail-to-river transfer point for the marine transportation industry. Also, it is considered a scenic locale in the western foothills of the Georgia Range.
As of the 2020 census, the Greater Madison metro area is the largest in East Monroe. It spans four counties, with a population of over 580,000. Madison is the second-largest city in East Monroe, with a population of 195,364 at the 2020 census.
The city is the home of East Monroe State University as well as the Madison Museum of Art; the Central Madison Park; the Ibican Steel Plant; and the Port of Madison, the largest river port in Ibica.
The largest employers are East Monroe State University, Madison Hospital, ASC Railroad, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the City of Madison.
Government and politics
City Council
Since 1985 Madison has operated under a strong mayor/city council form of government. The mayor is elected to four-year terms in partisan elections contested at the same time as Ibican presidential elections. The current mayor is former at-large councilman Arlo Raines, a Progressive who is currently in his second term. Mayors in Madison are term-limited to three terms and have the authority to veto acts of the city council.
The city also serves as the county seat of Madison County. The Madison County Courthouse is on a downtown parcel that covers an entire city block. Within the building are the offices for all of the county's elected officials and their employees, including the sheriff, county commissioners, county clerk, magistrates, and Circuit Court judges.
Madison's city council members are elected to four-year terms at the same time as the mayor. There are eleven members of the council, nine of whom represent single-member districts, while the other two are elected at large. The city council has the authority to draft and debate ordinances and can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority. There are currently nine Progressives and two Conservatives on the city council.
Law enforcement
The Madison Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving Madison. The Madison Police Department traces its history to 1733 with the appointment of Robert Patton as the first Town Marshal of the city. The current police department is composed of 213 sworn officers and a professional support staff of 23 civilians.
Law enforcement and security for East Monroe State University is provided by the East Monroe State University Police Department. This protection includes the main campus area (including the streets on or immediately surrounding campus) as well as all other university owned or managed buildings and property, including the EMSU Medical Center at Madison Hospital.
As the enforcement arm of the Madison County court system, the Madison County Sheriff's Office is responsible for the security of the Court House and property, public schools, service of court-ordered writs, protective and peace orders, warrants, tax levies, prisoner transportation and traffic enforcement. Deputy Sheriffs are sworn law enforcement officials, with full arrest authority anywhere in Madison County granted by the constitution of East Monroe and the county Sheriff.
In addition to both municipal and county law enforcement agencies, Madison is also home to a detachment of the East Monroe State Police. Troopers from this detachment are assigned to both Madison County and and the surrounding Chambers, Seale, Starr, and Oakridge Counties.
Madison Fire Department
The city of Madison is protected by 106 professional firefighters of the Madison Fire Department (MFD), founded in 1797. The department currently provides nine fully staffed companies with a complement of support staff and apparatus responding from nine strategically located fire stations throughout the city. The nine stations consist of nine engine companies, two ladder trucks, a rescue truck, a marine unit, and several reserve engines, reserve utility trucks, and staff vehicles.
Madison is along the Madison River and is the river's second largest port area. The Madison Fire Department is capable of water/underwater rescue operations and is the host locality to the Regional # 6 East Monroe Regional Response Team which provides Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue Team responses. The department holds a Class 2 rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and was the first department in the State to achieve this status. Last departmental evaluation was performed in 2018.
Health care
The two largest hospitals in Huntington are St. Mary's Medical Center and Madison Hospital. St. Mary's and Madison are jointly designated as the only trauma center in the region. St. Mary's is the largest medical facility in the south central East Monroe. The medical center is the largest private employer in Madison County with over 2,600 employees. As a teaching facility associated with the East Monroe State University School of Medicine, St. Mary's trains medical residents in several specialties. The hospital campus is home to the St. Mary's School of Nursing, the St. Mary's School of Radiologic Technology, and the St. Mary's School of Respiratory Care. All three programs are associated with Marshall University. St. Mary's is also home to a regional heart institute, regional cancer center, and regional neuroscience center.
Madison Hospital is a not-for-profit, regional referral center with 303 staffed beds. Madison cares for patients from throughout southern East Monroe. Opened in 1956, it is also a teaching hospital and home to the East Monroe State University Medical Center, which includes the Schools of Medicine and Nursing. Madison is also home to the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Roberts Family Children's Hospital, and the Lawrence Center for Rural Health; a distinguished leader nationwide for rural health care delivery.
The Madison Ibican Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, on Spring Valley Drive, is an 80-bed medical and surgical care facility that offers primary inpatient and outpatient care, along with mental health services and subspeciality outpatient options. It is also the primary teaching facility for the EMSU School of Medicine. The hospital is also the home of the EMSU School of Pharmacy.
Economy
The growth of Madison and its economy was originally based on steel processing, shipping, manufacturing, and transportation through the 1970s, then the city experienced deindustrialization which cost residents tens of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs. Madison has since been adapting to the collapse of the region's steel industry. The primary industries have shifted to high technology, such as, the film and television industries, health care, biomedical technology, finance, tourism, and the service sector.
Madison has grown its economic base in recent years to include technology, retail, finance, education, and medical care (which constitutes the largest proportion of the city's employment). The largest employers are EMSU, Madison Hospital, St. Mary's Medical Center, and the City of Madison.
Area retail is anchored by the Madison Mall, the largest mall in the state, and a healthy downtown retail sector including many boutique shops along the Old Main Corridor, Third Avenue, and Pullman Square.
Madison is still a base for the metalworking and welding trades with the repair of railroad rolling stock, barges, and river boat equipment. Major fabricating firms—such as Madison Special Metals, Ibican Steel, Martin Steel, Madison Plating, Richwood Industries, Evans Welding and Fabricating Co, and Hammers Industries—serve the railroads, river transportation, steelmaking, coal, oil, natural gas, electrical, windpower, biofuel, and other important industries.
Parks and trails
Madison is home to eleven public parks around the city. The most frequented being Madison Riverfront Park in the downtown and Ritter Park in South Side. Pullman Square features many restaurants and shops and a stage for live performances.
Sports
Huntington's sports scene is dominated by EMSU athletics and but is also represented by three professional sports teams; the National Basketball League's Madison Lakers, Ibica League Soccer's FC Madison. and the Ibican Baseball Association's Madison Pirates.
Education
The residents of Madison are served by the Madison County School System, which include 4 High Schools, Madison County Career Technology Center, 8 middle schools, and 19 elementary schools. Private schools include the St. Regis Catholic School. Grace Christian School, and Covenant School.
Madison is home to colleges and universities including East Monroe State University and one of its graduate schools, the School of Medicine, the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, Mountwest Community & Technical College, the Madison Junior College, and St. Mary's Medical Center's School of Medical Imaging, School of Nursing, and School of Respiratory Care.
The Madison County Public Library system operates a main branch downtown and seven branches throughout the county.
Transportation
Interstates and highways
The roads of Madison include one major interstate, Interstate 75, as well as an auxiliary Interstate 475; two Ibican Routes, IR-64 and IR-5; 3 major state routes; and numerous major thoroughfares. Madison utilizes a grid-like street pattern featuring several wide boulevard-style avenues that run east and west. Most notable of these are Third and Fifth Avenues. The city has a numbered street naming system, with avenues running east and west (perpendicular to the Madison River) and streets running north and south. The city is divided into an "East End" and a "West End" by the river. Streets west of the river carry as "West" indicator before the street name (i.e. "West Fourteenth Street"). The street plan was originally laid out by a professional contractor, making Madison one of the first professionally planned cities in America.
Interstate 75, which runs north south along the east bank of the river through the city with four main interchanges that serve the city: IR-64/I-475 (Madison Loop, south), EM-164, EM-70, and I-475 (North).
Interstate 475 makes a loop around the city, cosigned with IR-64 in the south side of the city. The parts of the interstate also passes through the cities of East Madison, Cairo, and Eastpark, as well as through Seale and Chambers counties.
Ibican Route 5 runs along the west bank of the river, cosigned with EM-1. The highway enters the city coming from Riverside in the south. IR-5 heads toward downtown, splitting into the 5th and 6th Streets. IR-5 parallels the Madison River through downtown. IR-5 exits the city in the north into College Park, as it passes the EMSU Campus.
Ibican Route 64 is a four lane expressway that enters Madison from Chambers County via the South Madison Bridge, in the west, and heads east, skirting the south side of the city, cosigned with I-475. IR-64 and I-475 stay concurrent for 21 miles (34 km) in an easterly direction until splitting off in East Madison. From there, 64 takes a northeasterly heading into the mountains, eventually crossing into Oakridge County
East Monroe Route 1 passes through the city north south, concurrent with IR-5 for its entire length in Madison County.
East Monroe Route 70 crosses the city in a northwest-southeast direction, running along 5th Avenue. It enters the city from Seale County in the west and crosses into East Madison.
East Monroe Route 164 enters the city from the southwest, originating 4 miles outside the city at an interchange with IR-64 and I-475. EM-164 follows IR-64 original routing through downtown, intersecting IR-5/EM-1 and I-75 before having its eastern terminus with EM-70. Between I-475 and IR-5, the highway is a four lane freeway, and east of IR-5 it is a grid braking 6 lane Boulevard.
Public transit
Madison Metro Transit Authority (MMTA) provides fixed-route bus service throughout Madison and the surrounding area. The MMTA has 3 member counties (Chambers, Madison, Seale), which make up the urban Greater Madison area.
The MMTA also is involved in a joint venture with the Charlotte-based North Madison Valley Transportation Authority bus system called Intelligent Transit which links downtown Madison to Charlotte via bus.
Air
The public Madison Regional Airport, southwest of the city in Chambers County, has two runways. Commercial air service is provided by Ibican Airlines and Western Airlines.
Gallery
Downtown Madison from across the Madison River
The fountain at the entrance to Ritter Park
Huntington as seen from EMSU in 2016.
