Area Attractions

Madison County Florida
Our Attraction Is Only Natural
Madison County's vivid surroundings are a great place to rediscover Florida's natural beauty. You can glimpse Florida wildlife from designated canoe trails along the Aucilla, Swannee, and Withlacoochee Rivers. There is an unhurried pace among Madisonians that many visitors find refreshing. Whether it is a visit to O'Toole's Herb Farm, a tour of the antebellum Wardlaw-Smith-Goza mansion, a refreshing summer dip in the crystal-clear waters of Blue Springs used as a setting in several movies and is one of the world's premier diving spots. There is also Cherry Lake, which offers swimming and boating as well as excellent bass fishing. And several lodges and clubs offer hunting for deer, small game, dove and quail in the county's vast timberlands


Madison Township
Home of North Florida Community College
The Town of Madison has recently undergone a major downtown renovation, restoration take a leisurely walking tour among Madison's many beautiful and historic buildings showing antebellum, Victorian and 19th Century Greek Revival architecture at its finest, there are joys to fill the senses with romance and calm. Or sit in the large gazebo in the beautifully landscaped Four Freedoms Park, located in the heart of Madison, where featured is a Confederate monument as well as the recently rededicated Four Freedoms monument, commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in honor of the late Captain Colin P. Kelly a Madison County resident and the first U.S. hero of World War II. Whose final resting place is the local cemetery, which is also the resting place for many confederate solders.

Gracious Old Homes and Historic Buildings
Madison is a city with more than 50 historic buildings, including many gracious mansions from the 19th century that are still in good repair and in use by today's families. A brochure is available from the Chamber of Commerce that presents a walking tour, complete with historical facts about each location. In addition to the buildings and homes, there are exhibits of artifacts from an earlier era. This is one of the best places in Florida to see beautiful old homes, and the downtown area is only a few minutes off Interstate 10.

Monuments and Historic Markers
The Four Freedoms Monument is a beautiful statue that serves as the centerpiece of Madison. It was commissioned by The Women's National Institute in honor of the late Captain Colin P. Kelley, a Madison native and the first U.S. war hero of World War II. Each of the four sides of the statue memorializes one of the freedoms cited by President Roosevelt in a State of the Union address: Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want and Freedom from fear.

That same park also has the state historic marker that is on the site of the Blockhouse erected in 1835 to serve as protection for women, children and the aged from roving bands of renegade Seminole Indians. The Blockhouse was also a mustering point for Confederate enlistments in 1861 when the issue of secession escalated into the Civil War.

The most recent memorial in Four Freedoms Park is perhaps the most evocative of the community. Dedicated on May 20, 1996 (an anniversary of Florida's endorsement of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation), it carries this inscription: "This monument is dedicated to the former slaves of Madison County, their supporters and the unsung heroes who gave their prayers, blood, sweat and tears to help make our community what it is today."