Fitchburg
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Madison
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Fitchburg began as a township named Greenfield in February 1847. In 1853, due to confusion with the township of Greenfield near Milwaukee, the name was changed to Fitchburg (after Fitchburg, Massachusetts).
In the 1830’s the first settlers were Yankees from the east. Soon after, the Irish began arriving. The land was ideally suited to agriculture. Small settlements sprang up to compliment the farming community. The Chicago & North Western and Illinois Central Railroads both had lines through the township. In 1983 Fitchburg incorporated as a city. |
The City of Madison has 186 miles of marked bicycle routes linking the University of Wisconsin, state capitol, University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Vilas Park Zoo, hospitals, and other points of interest. Parks along Lakes Mendota, Monona, and Wingra, offer swimming, boating, and fishing. A 12-mile Lake Monona bike path runs alongside the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center downtown. The Center has a bicycle elevator that transports cyclists from the lakeside bike path up a 60 feet bluff to Olin Terrace and the Capitol Square area. Daily tours are available at Monona Terrace. The Madison Art Center, Elvehjem Museum of Art, State Historical Society Museum, University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, and Madison Children’s Museum are in the city. Live entertainment is offered at the Madison Civic Center, Dane County Exposition Center, Kohl Center, and many smaller theaters and clubs. A Farmer’s Market is held on the Capitol Square every Wednesday and Saturday from late April through October.
In 1839, Capt. Thomas Jefferson Cram of the U.S. Army asked for more funds. “Between Madison and the Mississippi, nature has done so much towards providing a good road that an expenditure of about $10,000 in bridging the streams, ditching, and grading would be sufficient,” he wrote. Despite Cram’s request, no more appropriations were made until 1845. In the 1830’s and 1840’s, the Wisconsin Territory built many roads linking Madison and other points on the Military Road with other communities. |
