Madison Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 10,893 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Fort Riverview (44AH91 and 44AH195), Galt's Mill Complex, Oak Lawn, and Hanshill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mt. Sinai Baptist Church is a historically Black church in Madison Heights. In 1974, the pastor was Rev. Roger Ford.
Geography
Madison Heights is located at (37.439406, −79.117259).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.67%, is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Madison Heights had a population of 10,893. The median age was 42.9 years. 21.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.9 males age 18 and over.
91.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 8.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 4,591 households in Madison Heights, of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.0% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Carrie Buck, the plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, was sterilized after being classified as "feeble-minded", as part of the state's eugenics program while she was a patient at the Colony. The story of Carrie Buck's sterilization and the court case was made into a television drama in 1994, Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story. "Virginia State Epileptic Colony," a song by the Manic Street Preachers on their 2009 album Journal for Plague Lovers, addresses the state's program of eugenics.
The facility was permanently closed in 2020 after an investigation by the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division found multiple violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As of 2025, the site sits abandoned but is planned for redevelopment into an urban center for Madison Heights.
Notable people
- Clay Bryant, baseball player, manager, and coach.
- Randy Tomlin, former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.