History of Madison and Newport, Illinois
Madison County ILGenWeb Coordinator - Beverly Bauser
The village of Madison, lying mainly in
Venice Township, but partly in Nameoki Township, was
incorporated November 2, 1891, when its population was 1,979. It
is the third village of that name located in Madison County. The
first Madison was laid out in 1820 in Marine settlement by
Curtis Blakeman, R. P, Allen, George C. Allen, and others. A
sale of 100 lots was to take place there on November 20, 1820,
but the new town either died off or was absorbed by Marine.
The second village of Madison was located along the
Mississippi River in Chouteau Township. For a time, it was a
flourishing village. Steamboats land there to receive and unload
freight. Hon. Zephaniah B. Job once conducted a store there, and
carried a thirty thousand dollar stock of goods. The remorseless
encroachment of the river long since swept it away.
The
third village of Madison was the result of a meeting of St.
Louis merchants who desired to find a location for manufacturing
plants on the east side of the Mississippi River. The
industrialists formed a syndicate in 1887 known as the Madison
Land Syndicate, and promoted the construction of a new railroad
bridge, which they named “Merchants Bridge.” The group was
looking to avoid paying the high cost of transporting coal over
the Eads Bridge into Missouri.
The Missouri Car and
Foundry Company
The Missouri Car and Foundry Company, which
was founded in St. Louis in 1890, began construction of their
large plant in Illinois. About the same time, Standard Oil
Company started a large barrel works. This was followed by the
Merchants Bridge roundhouse and a large grain elevator. These
first industries employed approximately 2,500 people, who were
taken back and forth every day over Merchants Bridge on a work
train. Many of the employees didn’t like the daily train ride,
and encouraged the Missouri Car and Foundry to erect two long
rows of houses to be used a residences for their families. The
Madison Land Syndicate stepped in and laid out the present site
of the city on land purchased from William and Nancy Sippy for
the sum of $117.800.
A group of boosters for the
locality, headed by Patrick McCambridge, a deputy sheriff who
later became Chief of Police of Madison, made preparations for a
town site. On November 2, 1891 the village of Madison was
incorporated, with Charles C. Skeen elected as first president.
Electric street lights were installed the same year. The
population was growing steadily. By 1891, the village had a
three-story hotel and a Presbyterian Church.
The first big
fire in Madison occurred in 1907, when Waschaeur’s Department
Store burned. In 1910 a fire wagon and two horses replaced the
old hand truck, and three years later a volunteer fire
department was organized under Chief Pearl Smith.
A
Baptist Church was constructed in 1908, and in 1914 a Methodist
Church was dedicated in a building that previously was occupied
by a long-distance telephone exchange. Two additions were added
to the original Harris School the same year, and a high school
was constructed. In 1913, the Madison Theater was erected
by the Madison Fire Company at 1537 Third Street (next door to
the city hall). The Fireman's Hall was located on the second
floor, with the theater on the first floor. Next door to the
theater was a candy shop, which had a window that opened into
the theater lobby.
Madison had two reliable financial
institutions – the First National Bank, with Fred Troecklen as
president, and L. A. Cook as cashier; and The Tri-City Bank,
with Charles R. Kiser as president and R. B. Studebaker as
cashier.
During the 1920s, a new Presbyterian Church was
built, and St. Mary’s Catholic School opened with 230 pupils.
The Chain of Rocks Bridge was purchased by the village of
Madison for $2,300,000, from the Kingshighway Bridge Company.
Madison Public Library was erected in 1947. In October 1948,
the Memorial Center Recreational Hall was opened and dedicated.
In 1948, plans were made for additions to the Louis Baer and
Dunbar Schools, and for a new high school. The old Madison High
had been built in 1914.
The Helmbacher Forge and Rolling
Mill Company
This company was founded in St. Louis, and by
1907 was located in Madison, Illinois. The company was destroyed
by fire in December 1920. Firefighters from Madison, Granite
City, and Venice battled the blaze, assisted by several fire
companies from St. Louis.
NEWPORT
The town of
Newport was laid out in 1858 by I. W. Blackman of St. Louis,
Missouri, and joins the village of Madison on the east. The plat
was recorded April 27, 1858. On Section 24 was the railroad
station of Kinder. The town consisted mostly of a few dwelling
houses. Near the station was a two-story brick schoolhouse,
built by special legislation obtained through the efforts of
Calvin Kinder and others. It was later used by the German
Lutherans as their church.