Madison, WV

Madison Map

Madison is a city in Boone County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,677 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Boone County.

Madison was first established as Boone Court House. The town was renamed about 1865, presumably for James Madison, the fourth president of the United States. Other theories hold that it was named for lawyer James Madison Laidley or for Madison Peyton, a pioneer coal operator, who was a leader in the movement which resulted in the formation of Boone County and for whom Peytona on Big Coal River was named. Madison was incorporated in 1906.

The first courthouse at Madison, a log structure, was burned by Union troops early in the American Civil War. The second courthouse, made of local brick, served until 1913, and a frame building was used by county officials for the next several years. The present Boone County Courthouse, occupied in 1921, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Nearby cities include Danville, Racine, Chapmanville, Comfort, Twilight.