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.

The house is only scheduled to be open twice a year: The Saturday during National Preservation Week in May; and the 1st Sunday in December for Christmas Tour and Tea. Both are free events, but donations are accepted.

You can schedule a group tour by contacting the Scribner House by phone or email. Cost is $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for students. Every third-grade student in Floyd County visits the house during the school year.

text revised 2004