Established in 1792 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, Madison County was named for the family of prominent statesman James Madison. The forebears of "the father of the Constitution" had extensive land holdings and business interests in the area. (James Madison later became the fourth president of the United States.)
Madison county contains 327 square miles of land mass, about one sixth of which falls in Shenandoah National Park. There were 13,424 residents as of July 2011, according to the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. There are also more than a thousand part-time (recreational) residents. There are 304 miles of secondary roads and 63 miles of primary roads, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
