This section discusses the history of land use in Madison. This is done by analyzing aerial imagery of Madison taken in the 1930’s along with Madison’s historical districts. This information is valuable as it allows one to understand the historic purposes and importance of the town. Understanding the historical use of land in Madison can give insight into how future land use should be conducted as well as what areas of the town should be considered for preservation.

(The above map displays an aerial view of Madison from the 1930’s. It also shows Madison’s historical districts. In order to access the legend press the >> button on the top left of the map.)

Madison has 4 historical districts. Of the four, two are listed, one is identified, and one is eligible. The listed districts which are depicted in the map as red are the Bottle Hill Historic District and the Madison Civic and Commercial Historic District. The former being the northern most district on the map. The Bottle Hill Historic District was active between the years of 1730 and 1930 while the Madison Civic and Commercial Historic District was active between the years of 1870 and 1936. The identified district is called the Green Maple Prospect Residential District.

The fourth district which can be identified on the map in orange is not an official historic district but is considered eligible as determined by the New Jersey and/or National Registers of Historic Places. This district is called the Old Main Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Historic District which is a Railroad which was first chartered in 1853.

Data

The data shown in this map comes from the NJOGIS Maps Server which provided the aerial imagery of Madison from the early 1930’s. The data was compiled from a mosaic of photographs of New Jersey that were then scanned and printed before being configured into image formats. The dataset can be accessed here. The data on the historic districts was provided by the NJDEP Bureau of GIS. Districts included in the layer must have been determined to hold historical significance under either the HPO, local government, or official records. The dataset can be found here.

A one page version of the map can be found here.