Page 240 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

The capitol was begun in 1837 even though the location had no inhabitants. Eben and Roseline Peck moved to the area and built a log cabin boarding house near South Butler Street to house the workers who came from Milwaukee to build the Capitol. All the same, in 1846 Madison could boast a population of just 626. The village had two stores, three public houses, three groceries, one steam mill for cutting lumber, and some log cabin homes, making up just 35 buildings surrounded by forest. It
was not uncommon to find wolves and bears the capitol square. The University of Wisconsin was established there in 1849. But it was still remote and so development was slow.
. Nine years later when the Village of Madison was incorporated the population had reached 626. Wisconsin became a state in 1848. Madison became a city in 1856 and boasted a population of 6,864. The first settlers were from the eastern states. But by mid century German, Irish and Norwegian immigrants had found their way to Madison and its farmlands. In the early 1900s, Italians, Greeks, Jews and African Americans arrived.
King Street and the East Main/South Pinckney Street sides of the Capitol Square made up the downtown business district. The key change came in 1854 with the arrival of the railroad . When it was incorporated as a city in 1856, the population had increased ten-fold, to 6,863. The first, modest capital was replaced in 1863, but that burned down in 1904 and was replaced with the one you see today.
The rapid growth of Madison was in part because government offices were here and so were businesses concerned with finance, but Madison was also growing to be a major place to load farm produce for shipment to Chicago and Milwaukee.
The early establishment of the University has been important throughout the life of the city and today many high-tech businesses still rely on the results of research at UW–Madisons.
Madison has a very well-educated population, with nearly half of all those over 25 having a bachelor’s degree. Madison has one of the highest percentage of individuals holding Ph.D.s in the United States.
State Street, which links the University of Wisconsin campus with the Capitol Square, is the main shopping and entertainment center.
Madison 1867.
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