The Fountain Buildings

In many ways, this grand residence represents the great wealth that Madison offered newcomers in the 1800s. In those early days, Madison was a newly minted river port with goods and services transported by boat to and from New Orleans. Captain Nathan Powell moved here in 1839 and worked in the lucrative business of river trading. Soon he established a pork packing company. As the town grew, so did his wealth as he became President of the Madison Life, Fire, and Marine Insurance Company, and then President of the National Branch Bank. Captain Powell and his wife prospered personally as well. They had six sons and two daughters. He financed the construction of this beautiful Italianate-style home in 1873 for his eldest daughter, Mary Prudence Powell, who had just married William Graham, a family business partner. Mary didn’t have far to move, as the home she grew up in was at the other end of the block, at the corner of West Main and Elm Street, which is now the Jefferson County Public Library.