Editing Madison County, Ohio (section)

==History==
In 1850, Madison County contained 24 churches and one newspaper office, had a total population of 10,015, and the county's public school system had 3838 pupils.<ref name=1854gazetteer>Thomas Baldwin & J. Thomas, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_5s6AAAAcAAJ&dq=%22Madison+County%2C+Ohio%22&pg=PA304 A new and complete gazetteer of the United States]'', Lippincott, Grambo & Co, 1854, Pg. 643</ref>  With [[agriculture]] as the primary business, that same year the county produced 726,451 bushels of [[maize|corn]], 19,308 tons of [[hay]], 120,696 pounds of [[wool]], and 128,948 pounds of [[butter]].<ref name=1854gazetteer />  In 1900, the county had a population of 20,590.<ref name=Wilson>Stella Shoemaker Wilson, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cgXAAAAIAAJ&q=Madison+County Ohio]'', Macmillan, 1902, Pg. 97</ref>

In 2008, Madison County, which spans Interstates [[Interstate 70|70]] and [[Interstate 71|71]] as they converge on [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], was cited by the [[Ohio State Highway Patrol]] as leading the state for the most speeding tickets 20-mph or more over the posted limit.<ref>"AGGRESSIVE DRIVING: 20mph+ Over the Speed Limit", Ohio State Highway Patrol, Traffic Safety Bulletin, February 13, 2008. {{cite web|url=http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/strategicgoal/Bulletin/2008/TrafficSafety_2008_2.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408230617/http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/strategicgoal/Bulletin/2008/TrafficSafety_2008_2.pdf |archive-date=April 8, 2008 }}, retrieved February 17, 2008</ref>  Despite a population of around 42,000 in 2006,<ref>U.S. Census Quick Facts : Madison County, Ohio {{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/39097.html |title=Madison County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau |access-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606223625/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/39097.html |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}, retrieved February 17, 2008</ref> over 7,700 such tickets were issued in three years. Three of Madison County's 18 fatal crashes in 2006 and 2007 occurred on interstates.<ref>"Madison County Fatal Crashes, 2006-2008", Ohio State Highway Patrol,  {{cite web|url=http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/fatals/Fatal%20Map/2008/Madison_Fatals_08.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408230627/http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/fatals/Fatal%20Map/2008/Madison_Fatals_08.pdf |archive-date=April 8, 2008 }}, retrieved February 17, 2008</ref> Madison County is also home to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, the
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation, and several prison facilities.<ref>"No radar needed in Ohio", Motor Trend [http://wot.motortrend.com/ohio-court-rules-no-radar-needed-to-give-speeding-tickets-fair-or-not-7848.html], retrieved May 25, 2011</ref>