Madison, Wisconsin
capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and seat of Dane County
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the second-most populous city in the state (after Milwaukee), with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 census. The Madison metropolitan area has an estimated 708,000 residents. With a downtown centrally located on an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, the city also encompasses Lake Wingra. Madison was founded in 1836, and is named after American Founding Father and President James Madison. Madison is the county seat of Dane County.
As the state capital, Madison is home to government chambers, including the Wisconsin State Capitol. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. Major companies in the city include American Family Insurance, Exact Sciences Corporation, and TruStage Financial Group. Tourism also plays a vital role in the local economy, generating over $1 billion in 2018.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Madison, Wisconsin” is capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and seat of Dane County. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Madison, Wisconsin and capital, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and seat of Dane County” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q43788. VIAF identifies the subject as 140177246. The Library of Congress control number is n79081547. Authority coordinates are 43.075, -89.384. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1836 and 2018.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Madison, Wisconsin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Madison, Wisconsin primary sources, Madison, Wisconsin archive and Madison research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Madison, Wisconsin”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Madison, Wisconsin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.