Madison County is in the third tier of counties, south from the Missouri River, on the north line of the State, and the fourth tier from the same river on the east line of the State. Its area contains 576 square miles, or 368,640 acres.

The county was created in 1856, by the Territorial Legislature, and its boundary lines fixed by statute; nor have these original boundaries since been changed.

The surface of Madison County is composed of upland, valley, bluff and bottom lands in the following proportions: Upland, 40 per cent; valley, 40 per cent; bluff and sandy lands, 15 per cent; bottom lands, 5 per cent. The bottom lands lying immediately along the creeks are subject to overflow; the sandy lands lie mainly in the eastern part of the county, midway from north to south; they furnish excellent pasture, and constitute 12 per cent of the surface; the Elkhorn Valley extends across the northern end of the county, varying from three to six miles in width; Union and Taylor Valleys are in the southeastern comer, and Shell Creek Valley in the hundred feet above the bottom lands.

The surface soil of the bottom lands, uplands and valleys, is mainly a dark sandy loam, varying in depth from two to eight feet. Beneath this the subsoil is either sand or clay, which lie upon each other to an unknown depth, the rock below not having been reached in any deep borings as yet. At a depth of about twelve feet in some places, a coarse gravelly layer is found.

Biographies of Madison County, Nebraska

History of Madison County, Nebraska

Maps of Madison County, Nebraska

Townships of Madison County, Nebraska

Source: Andreas, A. T. History of the State of Nebraska, p. 1102-11. Chicago: The Western Historical Company. 1882.