Local Info

Madison is an intersting small town patterned after a New England village and located in Lake County, Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie. One only has to go about forty miles west to be in Cleveland, the cultural center for northeastern Ohio. For culture and entertainment you can go to the Orchestra, the Ballet, the Art Museum, the Institute of Music, the Institute of Art, and Playhouse Square. For sports fans Cleveland hosts the Browns, the Indians, and other major league teams.

You don't have to go far for recreation, though. There are many parks and beaches along Lake Erie and the Grand River for boaters, fishers, and swimmers, and there are several golf courses, too, including the Madison Country Club. Madison has its own YMCA and its own community theater known as the Rabbit Run Theater where Dustin Hoffman once played. Nearby Geneva-on-the-Lake is the country's oldest summer resort (since 1869) where the likes of Jimmy Dorsey, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Lawrence Welk and Cab Calloway have appeared.

There are many colleges and universities nearby. Lakeland Community College maintains a branch right here in Madison. Other colleges close by include, Lake Erie College, Akron University, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University and Baldwin Wallace College.

If you're seeking to belong to an organization, or you already do, you can check out some of the many groups in our area, including the American Association of University Women, the Western Reserve Fine Arts Association, the Lions Club, and the Kiwanis.

The nursery industry thrives in Madison because of the soil conditions one can find so close to Lake Erie. Nearby, there are also many prize-winning wineries.

 

Brief History

Madison was first settled in 1798 and became a Township in 1811. During the 1800's the main industry was iron ore processing and shipping. There are 28 local homes listed in the National Register of Historic Buildings and even a National Historic District! One of these historic buildings, Ye Olde Tavern, was witness to a great slave escape along the Underground Railroad. This dramatic-but-true story served as the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Map of North Madison

 

Useful Addresses and Numbers