Industrial Corridor
The siting of the railroad, while first controversial, created a new industrial corridor through the community. Just south of downtown, the Madison Steam Factory opened as a textile mill. In town, brokerage and warehouses built near the depots to facilitate shipping local commodities. Processing facilities (ginneries, grain mills, ice plants, guano/fertilizer plants, a tannery, a creamery) and manufacturing concerns (soap, furniture handlers) also saw proximity to the rail.
From 1880-1950, this area was an industrial hub - primarily for the cotton industry (e.g., former Gate City Oil Co. ginnery shown here). The Madison Variety Works (once located around the corner own S. Second, now Academy St.) specialized in furniture and agricultural details until later replaced by the Mason Gin & Fertilizer Co.
A few warehouses survive: Godfrey's (1878, next to depot); Farmers Trading Company (c. 1921, faces park); Queen City Gin seed warehouse (c. 1940, rear of this site); and McDowell Grocery (c. 1925, across railroad tracks on W. Jefferson St.).
City of Madison, Madison Bicentennial Commission 1809-2009
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: David Seibert.