Madison County/Orange County

Madison County In the hills of the Piedmont, against the Blue Ridge Mountains, Madison County was formed from Culpeper County in 1792. The county is named for James Madison, the “father of the American Constitution” and the fourth president of the United States. It contains a portion of the Shenandoah National Park. President Herbert Hoover had a rustic retreat constructed in the Blue Ridge Mountains here during his presidency (1929-1933). The county seat is Madison. Orange County Formed from Spotsylvania County in 1734, Orange County, a pastoral Piedmont county, was probably named in honor of William IV, the Dutch prince of Orange, who married Anne, the Princess Royal, daughter of George II of England, earlier that year. President James Madison lived here at Montpelier and President Zachary Taylor was born here. Some fifty square miles of the county comprise the Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District, an area rich in historic resources including the ruins of Barboursville, the home of Gov. James Barbour that was designed by 1817 by his friend Thomas Jefferson.