History
Fort Madison is named after the old military post erected in 1808 by Lieutenant Alpha Kingsley, five years after the Louisiana Purchase. It was the first U.S. fort built on the upper Mississippi River, in what today is the State of Iowa. In 1809 it was named Fort Madison in honor of James Madison, then President of the United States. The fort was abandoned and burned in 1813 due to increasing conflicts with Indians. A monument now marks the spot where the fort once stood, and a full size replica of the original fort is located in Riverview Park.
Twenty years later, in 1832, General John H. Knapp became the first person to settle permanently at Fort Madison. Having come up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, he built a large frame house and established a trading post. Other settlers soon followed and the community grew rapidly.
In 1838, the settlement was incorporated as a town by an act of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, as Iowa was not yet a state. During the same year, the first church and newspaper were established. The following year, 1839, a penitentiary was built, which is still in operation today. Now known as the Iowa State Penitentiary, it is the oldest penal institution west of the Mississippi and predates the State of Iowa by seven years. In 1841, the Lee County courthouse was built and is the oldest courthouse in continuous use in Iowa.
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