East of Madison on East 30th Street
Robert Gibson, 1901

Like Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue was named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. The Avenue begins at 23^rd Street and extends to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138^th Street. When the Manhattan street grid was mandated in 1811, there was no avenue between Fourth (now Park) and Fifth Avenues. Madison Avenue was carved out in the 1840s due to the wide distance between Fourth and Fifth Avenues and in order to create more building lots with avenue frontage. This southern section of Madison Avenue is characterized by its fine assortment of large-scale hotels, lofts and office buildings.

The Martha Washington Hotel stands just east of Madison on East 30^th Street. The 12-story Renaissance Revival style building was the first hotel built to house professional women in New York City, a function it served until 1998 when it was converted to a regular hotel. The brick and limestone structure features prominent quoins, Palladian windows, splayed lintels and iron balconettes. The Martha Washington Hotel was designated a New York City Individual Landmark in 2012.