$500 4% Refunding Bond. Madison, Indiana. Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within 15 miles (24km) of downtown Madison. Madison is the largest city along the Ohio River between Louisville and Cincinnati. Madison is one of the core cities of the Louisville-Elizabethtown-Madison metroplex, an area with a population of approximately 1.5 million. In 2006, the majority of Madison's downtown area was designated the largest contiguous National Historic Landmark in the United States"133 blocks of the downtown area is known as the Madison Historic Landmark District. Madison was laid out and platted in 1810, and the first lots were sold in 1811 by John Paul. It had busy early years due to heavy river traffic and its position as an entry point into the Indiana Territory along the historic Old Michigan Road. Madison's location across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state, made it an important location on the Underground Railroad, which worked to free fugitive slaves. George DeBaptiste's barbershop in town became a nerve center of the local group. By 1850, Madison was the third-largest city in Indiana (after New Albany and Indianapolis), and among the 100 largest cities in the U.S. Indiana's first railroad, the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, was built there from 1836 to 1847. Chartered i Item ordered may not be exact piece shown. All original and authentic.