Madison

Sister cities

• Vilnius
• Mantua
• Managua
• Freiburg im Breisgau
• Oslo
• Arcatao
• Ainaro
• Bahir Dar
• Marigliano
• Obihiro
• Camagüey

History

Before Europeans, humans inhabited the area in and around Madison for about 12,000 years. The Ho-Chunk called the region () meaning 'land of the four lakes' (Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa). Numerous effigy mounds, constructed for ceremonial and burial purposes more than 1,000 years earlier, dotted the rich prairies around the lakes. Dugout canoes found near many small lakes and rivers are prompting new anthropological research projects. Madison's modern origins begin in 1829, when former federal judge James Duane Doty purchased over a thousand acres (4 km2) of swamp and forest land on the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, with the intention of building a city in the Four Lakes region. He purchased 1,261 acres for $1,500. When the Wisconsin Territory was created in 1836 the territorial legislature convened in Belmont, Wisconsin. One of the legislature's tasks was to select a permanent location for the territory's capital. Doty lobbied aggressively for Madison as the new capital, offering buffalo robes to the freezing legislators and choice lots in Madison at discount prices to undecided voters. He had James Slaughter plat two cities in the area, Madison and "The City of Four Lakes", near present-day Middleton. Doty named his city for James Madison, the fourth president of the U.S. who had recently died on June 28, 1836. He named the streets for the other 38 signers of the U.S. Constitution. Although the city existed only on paper, the territorial legislature voted on November 28, 1836, to make Madison its capital, largely because of its location halfway between the new and growing cities around Milwaukee in the east and the long-established strategic post of Prairie du Chien in the west, and between the highly populated lead mining regions in the…

Geography

Madison is in the center of Dane County in south-central Wisconsin, west of Milwaukee and northwest of Chicago. Downtown Madison is on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona; the city's trademark "Lake, City, Lake" reflects this geography. Madison completely surrounds the suburbs of Maple Bluff, Monona, and Shorewood Hills. Madison shares borders with its largest suburb, Sun Prairie, and three other suburbs, Middleton, McFarland, and Fitchburg. Other suburbs include Cottage Grove, DeForest, Verona and Waunakee as well as Mount Horeb, Oregon, Stoughton, and Cross Plains further into Dane County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. The city's lowest elevation is the intersection of Regas Road and Corporate Drive on the east side, at . The highest elevation is located along Pleasant View Road on the far west side of the city, atop a portion of a terminal moraine of the Green Bay Lobe of the Wisconsin glaciation, at . The city is sometimes described as "The City of Four Lakes", comprising the four successive lakes of the Yahara River: Lake Mendota ("Fourth Lake"), Lake Monona ("Third Lake"), Lake Waubesa ("Second Lake") and Lake Kegonsa ("First Lake"), although Waubesa and Kegonsa are not actually in Madison, but just south of it. A fifth smaller lake, Lake Wingra, is within the city as well; it is connected to the Yahara River chain by Wingra Creek. The Yahara flows into the Rock River, which flows into the Mississippi River. Local identity varies throughout Madison, with over 120 officially recognized neighborhood associations. Historically, the north, east, and south sides were blue collar while the west side was white collar, and to a certain extent this remains true. Students dominate…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  82,530
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  77,329
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  76,639
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  64,891
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  64,305
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  60,557
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  59,105
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  58,397

Largest nearby schools

• Middleton High
  High · Middleton · 2,309 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• West High
  High · Madison · 2,147 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Vel Phillips Memorial High
  High · Madison · 2,025 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Verona Area High
  High · Verona · 1,802 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• East High
  High · Madison · 1,649 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• LaFollette High
  High · Madison · 1,482 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Wisconsin Virtual Academy K-8 (WIVA)
  Elementary · McFarland · 1,365 students · 23.1:1 ratio
• Waunakee High
  High · Waunakee · 1,327 students · 13.4:1 ratio