MADISON – Dr. Rodney Bailey has an honest confession. “I had never heard of Madison before I came here to work,” he said.

In 1988, Bailey moved to Madison to run Back Pain Chiropractic, supposedly for nine months to help the owner. “I got along well with the logical thinking engineers. They appreciated the physics in a chiropractic adjustment and the honest, straightforward approach my daddy taught me about doing business,” he said.

After leasing an office, he built his own space for Bailey Chiropractic Clinic in 1991 at 4072 Sullivan St. He rented units to Dental Associates of Madison and Perfections Hair Salon, still in operation there 26 years later.

“I’ve been blessed to have some great relationships here. Madison has residents from all over the world — many long-term residents who give it a Southern charm, lots of people from up North,” Bailey said. “I really like the culture and mix of people.”

Born in Alexander City, Bailey later moved to Pelham and graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Life Chiropractic College in Atlanta.

“My daddy and brother were plumbers. They told people the straight truth, and their business succeeded because of this approach. Uncle Dan was the plumber and taught my daddy by using a stick with measurements since he couldn’t read,” Bailey said.

Bailey lives just across the street from his practice. Passers-by can recognize his house by the 1923 antique tractor in the yard. “I got it from a patient who had received it from her grandfather,” he said.

He and girlfriend Susan relax on his front porch and listen to acoustic guitar flowing from Old Black Bear’s patio. “Downtown Madison has so much to offer,” Bailey said.

Bailey’s children – Emma, 14, Mason, 8, and Evelyn, 7 — love to play in the yard with their dog Thunder and pet miniature goats Cheesy and Cracker. “Emma is an avid reader, Mason plays football and baseball, and Evelyn is a cheerleader,” he said.

“My mother lives at Madison Manor nursing home, only one mile away. She loves living in Madison. We enjoy eating at Main Street Cafe downtown, where you can dine outside or in an old jail cell,” Bailey said.

In 2000, the practice gained chiropractors Dr. Bill Lanier and Dr. Jay Jackson. Lanier and wife Cecilia are parents of David and Lydia and grandparents of seven. “I wish everyone could be so blessed in the career path that they choose,” Dr. Lanier said.

Originally from Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., Jackson and wife Stacey liked Madison’s atmosphere for their children Ella and Carter and relocated here. Stacey counsels children at Valley Psychiatric.