| The Scribner House <= This picture is from a newspaper from the 1913 Centennial Celebration |
The Scribner House
| The Scribner House - New Albany, IN |
Located in New Albany at State & Main Streets, the Scribner House is the
oldest surviving building of any kind in New Albany. It was built in 1814
by Joel Scribner, one of the city's founders, and was the first frame house
built in the brand new river town.
Joel Scribner and his two brothers, Nathaniel and Abner, arrived at the
Falls of the Ohio early in 1813 after a journey that had its beginning in
their native state of New York. Directly south of the falls, the city of
Louisville was already established in Kentucky, and present Clarksville was
just taking birth on the north side of the Ohio in what was then Indiana
Territory. Consequently, the three brothers went past the falls, past
budding Clarksville and Silver Creek, and located their new town on the
heavily wooded north shore. They named it New Albany in honor of the
capital of their home state.
The Scribners immediately erected a log cabin at East Sixth and Main to
serve as a temporary residence while their home at State and Main was
being erected.
The plans for the new settlement, which called for 10 lots for churches and
3 for schools, had streets running south to north beginning at East Fifth
Street and ending at West Fifth Street. The streets which crisscrossed
these, and ran from east to west, began with 100 foot wide Water Street
along the river, extending five blocks north to Oak Street. Main, Market,
and Spring Streets were to be 80 feet wide. Thus New Albany escaped
much of the later downtown automobile traffic congestion which plagued
many another American city which was laid out to accommodate only the
early primitive transportation then in use.
State Street bisected the original town plat, with plans for four large lots
at State and Spring for public purposes. Here for many years, and on
different corners, were New Albany's City Hall and Jail, the Floyd County
Court House, and the Floyd County Jail. All these public services were
housed in the new City-County Building at West First and Spring Streets
in 1961, and the old structures razed.
A square on West Third, later Washington Street, between Main and
Market was set aside "for the Public Promenade and Parade Grounds." This
area, later to become known as Scribner Park, was a popular summertime
delight. It had a bandstand and a large circular fountain and fish pond in
its center. Large trees, alive with song birds and gray squirrels, provided
shade for the network of paths which ran in every direction. The approach
to the Sherman Minton Bridge, a part of Interstate Highway 64, now
covers the site, a testimony to the inexorable march of changing times.
But the Scribner House remained! It had served as the home of New
Albany's first Chamber of Commerce, as it were, when Joel Scribner and
his brothers early advertised their new town in newspapers as far away as
Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. One ad began "The
town, just laid out with spacious streets, public square, market, etc., is
situated on the banks of the Ohio River at the crossing place from
Louisville to Vincennes, about two miles below the Falls, in the Indiana
Territory, affords a beautiful and commodious harbor." Then, as now, the
advertising paid off, because within only a few years of its founding, New
Albany was the largest city in the state from 1850s-1870s.
But amidst all the changes, the Scribner House still survives, and stands as
a silent sentinel.
This info taken from the website: www.countyhistory.com/scribnerhouse/
oldest surviving building of any kind in New Albany. It was built in 1814
by Joel Scribner, one of the city's founders, and was the first frame house
built in the brand new river town.
Joel Scribner and his two brothers, Nathaniel and Abner, arrived at the
Falls of the Ohio early in 1813 after a journey that had its beginning in
their native state of New York. Directly south of the falls, the city of
Louisville was already established in Kentucky, and present Clarksville was
just taking birth on the north side of the Ohio in what was then Indiana
Territory. Consequently, the three brothers went past the falls, past
budding Clarksville and Silver Creek, and located their new town on the
heavily wooded north shore. They named it New Albany in honor of the
capital of their home state.
The Scribners immediately erected a log cabin at East Sixth and Main to
serve as a temporary residence while their home at State and Main was
being erected.
The plans for the new settlement, which called for 10 lots for churches and
3 for schools, had streets running south to north beginning at East Fifth
Street and ending at West Fifth Street. The streets which crisscrossed
these, and ran from east to west, began with 100 foot wide Water Street
along the river, extending five blocks north to Oak Street. Main, Market,
and Spring Streets were to be 80 feet wide. Thus New Albany escaped
much of the later downtown automobile traffic congestion which plagued
many another American city which was laid out to accommodate only the
early primitive transportation then in use.
State Street bisected the original town plat, with plans for four large lots
at State and Spring for public purposes. Here for many years, and on
different corners, were New Albany's City Hall and Jail, the Floyd County
Court House, and the Floyd County Jail. All these public services were
housed in the new City-County Building at West First and Spring Streets
in 1961, and the old structures razed.
A square on West Third, later Washington Street, between Main and
Market was set aside "for the Public Promenade and Parade Grounds." This
area, later to become known as Scribner Park, was a popular summertime
delight. It had a bandstand and a large circular fountain and fish pond in
its center. Large trees, alive with song birds and gray squirrels, provided
shade for the network of paths which ran in every direction. The approach
to the Sherman Minton Bridge, a part of Interstate Highway 64, now
covers the site, a testimony to the inexorable march of changing times.
But the Scribner House remained! It had served as the home of New
Albany's first Chamber of Commerce, as it were, when Joel Scribner and
his brothers early advertised their new town in newspapers as far away as
Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. One ad began "The
town, just laid out with spacious streets, public square, market, etc., is
situated on the banks of the Ohio River at the crossing place from
Louisville to Vincennes, about two miles below the Falls, in the Indiana
Territory, affords a beautiful and commodious harbor." Then, as now, the
advertising paid off, because within only a few years of its founding, New
Albany was the largest city in the state from 1850s-1870s.
But amidst all the changes, the Scribner House still survives, and stands as
a silent sentinel.
This info taken from the website: www.countyhistory.com/scribnerhouse/
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