The East Third Street area is a residential neighborhood with an assortment of small community buildings, including a number of churches. The district is two blocks long, extending from Jefferson Street past West Street. It includes properties on side streets that are within a block of Third Street. The best way to see this neighborhood is on foot.

At 217 East Third Street is the former German Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Faith Covenant Church. This simple, gable-front building of the 1870s possesses pointed-arch windows, which give it a modest hint of Gothic Revival style. Just around the corner is another historic church, the Christ Episcopal Church, which is described in greater detail in this itinerary here. The house located north of the church, at 510 Mulberry Street, features an intricate, cast-iron porch that dates to 1854.

Donlan House (left) and Second Presbyterian Church (right). National Park Service

Farther west on Third Street, at 113 East Third Street, is a large, brick, gable-front building that was built as the Radical Methodist Church about 1830. Between 1867 and 1869, this building served as the place of worship for Madison’s Jewish community. Just a couple buildings away is the historic Second Presbyterian Church, a landmark example of Greek Revival architecture that was built in 1835. Across West Street from the church is the Donlan House, which was constructed around 1895. Michael Donlan was a local banker and one of the owners of the Indiana Foundry. His family home is a rare and well-executed example of Queen Anne style in Madison. Next door to the Donlan House is the 1848 Washington Fire Company No. 2, which is the oldest fire house in town.

Across the street from the Donlan House, where there is now a parking lot and Lytle Park, once stood a grand post office, built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It has been said that this local landmark’s unfortunate demolition in 1963 fueled Madison’s modern preservation movement. West of this site are examples of Madison townhouses, some of which were altered in the 1870s with Italianate ornamentation.

Most of the homes on East Third Street contribute to the historic significance of the Madison Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.