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1892 Map of Madison

Name: 1892 Topographic Map of Madison
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1892
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1892

About this map

Madison is defined by its strategic position between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, serving as the central hub of a complex nineteenth-century transportation network. This survey, conducted in 1887, illustrates how the capital city’s development was fundamentally shaped by the local geography of the Four Lakes region, with the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad converging in the heart of the isthmus.

Beyond the urban core, the landscape transitions into established agricultural townships like Vienna, Westport, and Blooming Grove. Smaller settlements such as Waunakee, De Forest, and Mac Farland follow the rail lines, while smaller water bodies like Lake Wingra and Lake Waubesa appear alongside watercourses like Catfish Creek. This map documents a period before modern suburban expansion, when individual farmsteads and rural school sites were the primary structures outside the village centers.