A lot of the streets in Madisonville are named after some of the people who lived here a long time ago. Some of these streets are Bramble, Ward,
Stewart, Settle and Whetsel.
Three other early settlers were Sam Muchmore, Benjamin Stewart and Louis Cornuelle. Louis Cornuelle owned a brickyard, a large vineyard and a orchard. Some of the streets in Madisonville are named after these people. Cornuelle became Kenwood Rd.
In 1809 the town was growing. It was named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. The name was changed to Madisonville in 1826 when the post office was opened. There was already a town in Ohio named Madison and you couldn't have two towns with the same name.
The first Methodist Church was built in 1801 on land that Usual Ward had donated. He also donated land for a cemetery near the church which was on Red Bank and Erie Ave. The church burned down so services were held in the homes of the church members. A new church was finally built in 1824 on what
is now Madison Rd. The land for the new church was donated by Benjamin Muchmore. Benjamin Muchmore was an early settler who owned a lot of property along both sides of Plainville Rd.
The first Catholic Church was built on Madison Rd. near Roanoke in 1859. It was made of wood and named St. Michael's. A brick church was later built on Desmond St. in 1874 and the name was changed to St. Anthony's. There is still a St. Michael's cemetery. It is on a street now named Settle.
There were many different churches built in Madisonville. In 1867 the Eastminster Presbyterian church, in 1868 the St. Paul Lutheran Church, in 1873 the Gaines Methodist Church, which was the first black church in Madisonville, and in 1875 the Madisonville Baptist Church.
Another Catholic Church was built in 1921, St. Margaret of Cortona. The building on Watterson, which we now use as our school gym, was the church. A school with four classrooms was built next to it. Later four more classrooms were added. There is an interesting story about the crosses that were on the church. One night during the time the church was being built, the men were holding a meeting at the priest's house. They were told the K.K.K.'s vere burning a cross in front of the church. It did not do a lot of damage, but one of the men said "We'll mark the building so that they cannot mistake it." They put a cross over the door, across on the cupola, one at the back over the sanctuary and one on either side of the roof . The crosses on the roof were made out of shingles. In 1927 more classrooms were need, so a four room brick school on Simpson Ave. was opened. A bigger space for church was also needed so an addition to the brick school was built and used as the church.
The first log cabin school was started in 1810. It was near the streets we now call Ravenna and Madison Rd. In 1824 the first brick schoolhouse was built at Madison and Ward. Two new wings were added to this school by 1892. Another new school was built in 1870 between Mathis, Prentice and Ward. Two new wings were added to this school by 1892. Madisonville had some of the best public schools. Three Cincinnati public schools were later named after men who had been principals of Madisonville School. In 1902 a new high school was built and in 1908 a new elementary school was built in place of the 1870 building. That school closed in 1988.
A Town Hall was built in 1888 at Prentice St. and Whetsel Ave. The Village Council had offices in this building. There was also a jail, a constable's office, a large auditorium and a reading room. This reading room later became part of the Public Library. The Madisonville Library is now built where the Town Hall used to be. There was room for two stores in the Town Hall. These two stores were the Kroeger Grocery and Baking Company. They stayed open until 1923, when the Town Hall was torn down to build the Madisonville Library.
