Geography/Terrain
Madison is located on a ridge, the remains of the terminal moraine left by the receding Wisconsin Glacier in prehistoric times.  The town is set amidst gently rolling wooded country, with extensive wetlands and wooded swamps in low-lying areas.

Madison is 11 miles from Union, NJ, 16 miles from Newark, and 34 miles from New York City.

Jobs
Madison is home to one of New Jersey’s most acclaimed gated corporate environments in the park-like Giralda Farms Corporate Campus, which was originally part of the estate of the late Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge.  Giralda Farms houses some of the town’s principal employers, including such major corporations as Wyeth, Verizon, Maersk, Schering Plough, Atlantic Mutual, Accordia Northeast (a subsidiary of Wells Fargo), and Daiichi Pharmaceuticals.  Drew University is another major employer, and of course the town’s proximity and easy access to New York City and other major New Jersey urban areas widens the scope of available employment opportunities enormously. 

Housing
Madison's direct train service to Manhattan, carefully maintained tree-lined streets, friendly, walkable neighborhoods, and a charming historic ambience the "Rose City" a highly desirable residential location.  The town’s housing policies have simplified access to federally subsidized low and moderate income housing and have made almost 100 senior citizen housing units available in the past twenty years.  In addition a very wide range of conventional housing styles is available, spanning Madison's more than 200 years of history.

Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
With the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge on their doorstep, numerous town parks and open spaces, and access to major path and walkway systems provided by Morris County and at Giralda Farms and Drew University, Madison residents have host of pleasant options for walking, jogging, cycling, and recreation.

Madison provides many opportunities for team and individual sports and fitness activities, including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, basketball and tennis courts, sports grounds, and several well-equipped gymnasiums, including the extensive facilities of the Madison YMCA, which caters for over 12,000 members.

The relaxing and restorative qualities of well-planned and maintained parks and gardens are amply demonstrated in the beautiful 127-acre Frelinghuysen Arboretum.  With a magnificent Colonial Revival mansion at its heart, the Arboretum’s beautiful gardens, woodlands, and meadows and its notable collections of specimen and trees and shrubs make for a wonderfully serene and restful environment.  Regular concerts during the summer months and educational programs for botanists, gardeners, and horticulturalists add to the attractiveness of this popular local attraction.

Morris County has approximately 23 golf courses, including some of New Jersey’s best public courses.  Right in Madison Township, the private Madison Golf Club’s 9-hole course has attracted players to its small greens and narrow hilly fairways since 1896.  Other excellent courses within a mile or two of Madison include the 18-hole Fairmount Country Club, the very attractive Brooklake Country Club, and the Morris County Golf Club, established in 1894.

Special Attractions/Events
For jazz lovers and fans of gourmet Asian cuisine Madison’s Shanghai Jazz restaurant and club is the place to go.  Named by Downbeat magazine as one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world, and praised by discerning critics from the New York Times on down, this hot venue features top national and international musicians five nights a week.  In June of each year it is also the venue for the New Jersey Jazz Society’s annual three-day “Jazziest.”

Staging regular performances in Madison and nearby Morristown throughout the year, the Harmonium Choral Society is a 75-voice auditioned community choir which combines delightful community events with wonderful performances from a diverse musical repertoire.  As well as presenting their own programs in some of the town’s beautiful and historic churches, Harmonium also often hosts artists of the caliber of the American Boychoir and the Harlem Gospel Choir.

Madison’s Museum of Early Trades and Crafts is a truly unique facility dedicated to presenting and interpreting the history, culture, and lives of the ordinary people of New Jersey from the days of its earliest settlement.  The Museum presents a marvelous array of displays, exhibits, educational programs, and even musical concerts to draw visitors into the daily lives of our forbears.  Typical events include lectures and demonstrations by a local collector and restorer of antique tools, a concert series featuring 18th Century American folk music, and an exhibit in which PT Barnum extols the virtues of life in small-town America.

Madison is also the home of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the Playwright's Theater of New Jersey, and the Adult School of Chatham, Madison, and Florham Park.

Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings
The ridge of terminal glacial moraine on which Madison is situated was part of an ancient Indian trail, which for millennia the Lenape people used to gain access to the higher country to the north and west of the town.  When the earliest white settlers arrived in the area around 1715 they naturally developed this and other ancient trails, eventually building turnpikes and the Morris and Essex railroad along their course.

Madison has many historic buildings of beautiful architecture.  One of the oldest was built in the mid 1700's the Luke Miller house.  Major Luke Miller, a Revolutionary War soldier was born in the house in 1759 and lived there until his death in 1851, aged 91.  The officers of the Revolutionary War used the home as a place of refuge and rest.  The home was frequently visited by George Washington.

Madison’s entire downtown is a Commercial Historic District, on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and contains many beautiful old buildings.  The remarkable Mansion at the nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University campus is particularly notable.  With over 100 rooms, many decorated in Italian marble, and with commanding views of the surrounding countryside, it was designed by Stanford White in the 1890’s as a replica of part of Hampton Court, one of the homes of King Henry VIII, near London.

Madison’s greenhouses built in the 1800's attained the name of "The Rose City" for the long-stemmed flowers grown there in the 19th Century.  To this day the town is often referred to as "The Rose City" by area residents.