Introducing Madison County

“The quintessential Southern Community,” the Madison County government website calls itself. Named for President James Madison, the northeast Georgia county dates back to 1811. “Madison is far from the hectic pace of Atlanta,” says Nancy R. Bridges, the University of Georgia Family and Consumer Sciences Cooperative Extension county agent for Oglethorpe and Madison Counties. As a county extension agent, Bridges serves as a liaison between UGA and the Madison County community disseminating helpful information.

With the closest access to a major interstate being I-85 in Commerce one county over, Madison County may maintain the charm of a small southern town, but the county seat of Danielsville sits 15 minutes away from Athens where UGA is located. The other Madison County municipalities include Carlton, Colbert, Comer, Hull, and Ila. “No municipality has a population over 1,000,” the county website says. “Only one, Comer, exceeds 500.” The 2001 census lists the county population of around 26,000, but estimated it to be closer to 28,000 in 2006. A daily average number of 26.7 miles driven to work suggests that though many of the Madison County residents enjoy living in a county that upholds “the rural flavor of the south,” they make a living in the more urban areas surrounding Madison.