Village of Madison Newspaper Articles
THE NEW TOWN OF MADISON
Source: Alton Telegraph, February 26, 1891
A large number of investments are being made in lots and acre
property between Madison and East St. Louis. There is a prospect of
rapid junction between the two towns, and a few years will no doubt
witness a line of factories, railroad and residences from East St.
Louis to Kinder, but it should be borne blind, that the plateau of
Kinger, gracing only a few acres, was all the land left unsubmerged
in the flood of 1844, and that the flood covered Venice, a portion
of Madison, and all the land embraced between East St. Louis and the
new town of Madison, both inside and outside the American Bottom.
NEW TOWN OF MADISON
Source: Alton Telegraph, April 02, 1891
The new town of Madison in this county is booming. The car works
will, when finished, be the most extensive of any in this country.
The moulding shop now completed is 124x700’, the machine shop, which
is partially finished, is 145x840-, and the erecting shop will be
165x900’. These buildings are of brick, with slate and glass roofs.
The capacity of the works will be 50 cars per day, and this can, if
the business warrants it, be increased to 60. Such an immense output
can scarcely be conceived by the ordinary car building, and to get
together the materials necessary will be a task of magnitude. The
Standard Oil Company will build large cooperage shops at Madison.
They have secured twelve acres of land, immediately east of the
shops.
LARGE LAND SALE AT THE TOWN OF MADISON
Source: Alton Telegraph, July 9, 1891
The real estate sale at Madison, which took place Wednesday,
resulted in an attendance from Alton of from 300 to 400 people. A
visit to the great Madison car shops was first made, the buildings
of which excited the wonder and admiration of the beholders. Then a
walk or a ride in an express wagon took the visitors over a sandy
and weedy piece of land, and a part of the levee, to the ground for
sale, which is a randy ridge partly covered by an orchard and
surrounded on three sides by wheat and corn fields. As all, or
nearly all the excursionists had left hom previous to the dinner
hour, with the understanding that refreshments would be provided on
the grounds. They were a hungry army on arrival, and a wild scramble
for the provender ensued. The ground has not an attractive
appearance, the sand and dust kicked up by the crowd was stifling,
and the heat of the sun in the open ground added to the discomfort.
There were no accommodations, especially for ladies, and numbers,
after a look at the place, made their way to St. Louis without
waiting for the sale. From 60 to 100 lots were sold, with Messrs. J.
M. Giberson of Alton, and E. A. Benbow of Upper Alton among the
purchasers.
There are no improvements on the land offered for sale. Numbers of
the men at work on the shops are living in tents nearby, and the
whole scene reminds one of the outskirts of Chicago, or an incipient
Kansas town. The land did not seem to Altonians to present much of
an opportunity for successful speculation, and the Edwardsville
party, among whom were Judge Krome, Attorney Bradshaw, and Sheriff
Hotz, scouted the idea of the place ever entering into successful
competition for the location for the county seat. Altogether, there
must have been 3,000 to 4,000 visited the sale, many of whom were
intending purchasers. More, however, went for the fun of the thing,
and on account of the free ride. They got both.