Madison, NE

Madison is the seat of Madison County, a Nebraska town that took county-seat honors after a dispute with Norfolk. Settlers from Wisconsin formed the first communities along Union Creek, and the county organized in 1867. Stage lines ran from Madison to neighboring towns in the 1870s; railroads reached the county in 1879–1882, pushing commerce and population upward. Madison was incorporated in 1876, and the county’s name likely points back to Madison, Wisconsin, with no direct tie to President James Madison. Madison is a prairie county seat with a name that came west with its settlers.