Fort Madison is a city and a county chair of Lee County, Iowa, United States along later than Keokuk. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, Lee County is the isolated one afterward two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along the Mississippi River in the state’s southeast corner, it lies between little bluffs along one of the widest portions of the river.

Fort Madison was founded as the location of the first U.S. military fort in the upper Mississippi region. A replica of the fort stands along the river. Sheaffer Pens were developed and made in Fort Madison for many years. The city is the location of the Iowa State Penitentiary—the state’s maximum security prison for men. Fort Madison is the Mississippi river crossing and station stop for Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. Fort Madison has the last surviving double swing-span bridge on the Mississippi River, the Fort Madison Toll Bridge. It has a summit level for cars and a same level for trains; it is moreover the world’s largest .

The Fort Madison Downtown Commercial Historic District is a stock of well-preserved historic storefronts from the late 19th century. Along gone this is the Park-to-Park Residential Historic District. The Historic Park to Park District is a seven block long, three block broad section of homes that represent the Gothic, Victorian, and Tudor era. With a wealthy variety of architectural styles afterward Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Eastlake Stick, Richardson Romanesque, Queen Anne, and Tudor. With two of the six parks within the District. It is on the National Historic Registry.

The city of Fort Madison was established vis-а-vis the site of the historic Fort Madison (1808–1813), which was the first steadfast U.S. military fortification on the Upper Mississippi. Fort Madison was the site of Black Hawk’s first battle against U.S. troops, the only genuine War of 1812 battle fought west of the Mississippi. It was next the location of the first U.S. military cemetery in the upper Midwest. The fort was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States.