Madison - First Impressions

Madison, Wisconsin, and Austin, Texas, share several things. First, they are the capitols of their home states and were both built in the 1840s. Second, they are both college towns and centers of government. If you were fortunate to visit the UT "strip" about thirty years ago, you have some idea of the look and feel of the UW campus area, altough the architecture of the buildings is very different. Third, both towns are hilly, though the Austin hills are steeper and more numerous.

If you have even a dilettante's interest in architecture you will enjoy walking around this extremely pedestrian-friendly city, where motorists actually wait for walkers to cross the streets, and rubber-necking its larger structures which exemplify many styles of architecture from various time periods. I think perhaps old builings are never torn down in this town. The original streets of Madison were named after the 39 signers of the US Constitution. Madison of course, was named for the Swiss religious reformer Ulrich Zwingli, but don't mention this in your next conversation with James Madison.

The most famous resident of the Madison area was this country's the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, who studied architecture at UW-Madison. His famous residence, Taliesin, is located in the village of Spring Green, a few miles west of Madison. Madison's Monoma Terrace Convention Center was based on a design Wright completed in 1938. Madison's outstanding features are the two big lakes, Monoma and Mendota, which abut the downtown area. The UW campus is bounded by huge Lake Mendota. The beautiful UW campus will be the subject of another blog.

I have only fallen in love at first sight with two towns I have visited. The first was the little town of Lexington, Virginia, the home of Stonewall Jackson and Washington and Lee University. The second is Madison, Wisconsin.