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Summer Walking Tours!

Image: New tour of Prospect and Castle in 2025

Our Historic Architecture Walking Tours are running and we’re having a great time with guests this summer!

Tickets are open!

Tours will run May 29 - September 27

Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.
Thursdays (May-August) at 6:00 p.m.
Thursdays (September) at 5:00 p.m. (added tour days!)

Our specialty tour this year is of the Crestwood neighborhood on the west side of Madison! There is limited space on the tours so reserve your tickets early.

Available tickets:

Sold Out

Sunday, September 28

Tour will run every 30 minutes starting at 9:00 a.m. with the last tour at 12:30 p.m.

This tour is an important fundraiser for the Madison Trust and the revenue from tickets goes right back into the organization!

We are hiring!

Applications are due by October 15.

The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation is seeking a part-time Tour and Communications Coordinator to help organize and run our summer tours, manage social media, and assist with general office and committee tasks. This Madison-based role is ideal for someone who is organized, a strong communicator, and passionate about local history and architecture. The position requires approximately 10 hours per week with flexible scheduling, some evening/weekend availability, and regular in-person meetings and events in the Madison area. Pay is $18/hour; no benefits are included. Applicants must reside in or near Madison, this is not a remote role. Applications are due by October 15. View full job description

Read Our Advocacy News

Featured
September 2025 | Advocacy Opinion
September 2025 | Advocacy Opinion

While certain changes made to Madison landmarks over the past five years have been hard for me to swallow, the first segment of this Opinion piece will focus on a project that, from my perspective, hits a home run. The Landmarks Commission recently granted a Certificate of Approval to demolish an unsympathetic 1950s lakeside addition to the Sauthoff House at 739 Jenifer St.,and replace it will a highly complementary and contemporary addition. Check out what I consider to be a thoughtful and sympathetic result.

Read More →
August 2025 | Advocacy News
August 2025 | Advocacy News

At the time of the June 1 edition of the Advocacy News, the fate of a 1929 home designed by Ferdinand Kronenberg for the Metz family on West Mifflin Street was hanging in the balance. Would it be moved to a new Downtown location in July or would it be demolished? See the result in our August news.

Read More →
June 2025 | Advocacy News
June 2025 | Advocacy News

You had a chance in the previous edition of the Advocacy News to learn some of the background information relating to a proposed infill development in front of this carriage house at 124 E. Gorham St. in the Mansion Hill Historic District. The complicated project was the subject of a public hearing and review by the Landmarks Commission on May 19.

Read More →
 
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About Us

We believe that historic places are cultural resources and that their rehabilitation, restoration and preservation are vital to a sustainable approach to redevelopment of older parts of our community. We believe they are critical to cultivating a civic identity and sense of place. (Photo from Wisconsin Historical Society archives)

Learn More About the Trust

 
 

 Read Our Blog

Featured
Concrete Block Houses 3: Post-War Styles, 1945-1970
Concrete Block Houses 3: Post-War Styles, 1945-1970

Our latest blog post wraps up a three-part series exploring Madison's concrete block homes, this time focusing on the post-World War II era. From modest Ranches to Usonian gems and bold Contemporary designs, these houses reveal how visible concrete block structures helped shape mid-century residential architecture. Learn how builders balanced form and function, and how these enduring materials continue to tell stories of innovation, aesthetics, and changing tastes.

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Concrete Block Houses 2: Modern Times, 1930-1940
Concrete Block Houses 2: Modern Times, 1930-1940

This month’s blog post continues our exploration of early concrete block construction in Madison. As block design shifted from rough rockface to smooth modern surfaces, a new generation of houses emerged. Many reflecting the clean lines and bold geometry of the International Style. Highlights include striking examples from Monona’s Frost Woods, Shorewood Hills, and Madison’s Crestwood neighborhood, which would soon become home to the city’s largest collection of concrete block modernist homes.

Read More →
Behind the Veil
Behind the Veil

There are times we must re-imagine a familiar place that can no longer be seen. That happens when we conjure up a demolished building, perhaps as we drive by a construction site in Madison and have only a vague memory of what was recently removed. The rustiness of our memory varies from person to person, depending on the building itself, the site, and its context, as well as its connection to our own lives and its role in the community.

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Become a Member!

Not only are you supporting the Madison Trust as it celebrates and advocates for the preservation of historic places in the Madison area, but you will become part of a network of preservation-minded people who care about Madison’s architectural treasures.

Click here to learn more about membership and join today!

 
 

Our Tours

The Madison Trust provides an educational and fun way to experience architecture and history through our seasonal historic architecture walking tours, private tours and specialty tours. These tours showcase Madison’s historic architecture as well as our neighborhoods and illuminate the local history and heritage associated with them.

 

1,330+

Tour participants in 2024

Join us on a tour! You’ll learn about architecture and the people who lived and worked in these historic, human-built structures.

 

85+

Tours given in 2024

May through September trained volunteer docents led walking tours through eight historic neighborhoods in Madison. We also provide private tours and a specialty tour each year.

 
 

21+

Years the tours have operated

Over the years our tours have shared our knowledge of the people and places that shaped Madison into what it is today.

 
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Get Involved

The Madison Trust values all of our amazing volunteers. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to offer many of our public programs such as the seasonal historic architecture walking tours. The ongoing support of patrons like you determines what the Trust is today and what it will be in years to come. We have a variety of ways for you to get involved.

 

Become a member

We value our members and recognize that their support sends a strong message that historic places matter!

Volunteer opportunities

Give of your time with the Madison Trust and help support the continued viability of Madison’s historic places.

Make a Donation

Help support our mission of historic preservation education & advocacy in our community.