When Madison was established in 1857 by the sale of lots in
the town planned to be called “Clemens Depot” by initial landowner James
Clemens as his namesake along the railroad, it consisted of only 55 total
lots. Of these, 29 fronted to some
extent along the railroad, intended by Clemens to serve as “storefronts” and
called such by the fact that an owner would operate a store in the front of any
structure, while living with his family in the back. Later, about a dozen of these 29 lots would
hold only residences, but even some of the lots not fronting along the railroad
had stores at various times in the 1800s.
Today the old business district includes various retail and
commercial establishments along Main Street and a few more around the
intersection of Church and Front Streets.
However, there are a couple of old homes along Main Street, one of which
has been converted entirely into business operations. The additional residences
along Church, Martin, Arnett, College, Maple, Martin, and Sullivan Streets are
also considered be in the historical district, but these locations are
typically not occupied for commercial enterprises – still with a few exceptions
for businesses.
Main Street itself was not given a name in the plat by James
Clemens. It is known that on the 1890
Clemens' plat showed Lots 1 – 13
from west to east along the south side of today's Main Street. It also included Lots 46 – 48 on the eastern
end of the street, where it connects with the southern end of Church Street
today. Church Street was initially
called the Huntsville – Triana Pike after it got any name at all as part of a
county road. Today's Garner and Wise
Streets were not shown on the original plat.
They were later created from alleys taken from the bounds of various
lots along their routes. Martin Street
was shown on the original plat, but it had no name initially.
Hartford Insurance Company map of Madison, this street was titled as “Broadway”
and what is today's Front Street north of the railroad was titled as Railway
Street.
Lots 1 – 13 along Main Street were typical of Clemens' plan
for storefronts facing the railroad, as were Lots 14 -23 along today's Front
Street. That plan laid out lots that
were 66 feet wide and 198 feet deep.
This was based upon the 66-foot length of the standard surveryor's chain
for measurements – one chain wide, three chains deep. This choice of lot dimensions allowed for a
dwelling structure to be constructed for merchants that would measure basically
up to 66 feet wide and 66 feet deep. The
front of such a structure would be used for merchandising, facing the street
and the railroad. The next 66 feet of
depth in the lot would nornally be used for such things as a cistern, possibly
a chicken yard or coop, and perhaps a small vegetable garden. The back 66 feet of a lot would be used for
pasture for a milk cow or a horse, plus the location of an “outhouse” (outdoor
toilet) as far from the living quarters as possible in the lot. Apparently, James Clemens envisioned a town
populated by merchants in the most favorable locations for such
livelihoods. Other lots were mostly of
varying dimensions, as can be seen in the plat.
