Located across the Ohio River, below the Falls of the Ohio, in southern Indiana. One of the six original settlements at the Falls of the Ohio which included Clarksville, Jeffersonville, Louisville, Portland and Shippingport.

The Scribner brothers arrived from New York in 1813 and named the town in honor of the capital of their home state. One of the Scribner houses, built c. 1814, is still standing at the southeast corner of Main and State Sts. The area became a transportation and ship building center.

Before the locks were completed on the Louisville side of the Ohio River in 1830, the river’s influence established New Albany as one of the largest cities in the midwest. The most lavishly furnished steam boats were built in New Albany. The first plate glass windows in the U.S. were produced here.

New Albany is significant for its excellent examples of 19th century commercial and residential architecture.

Mansion Row on E. Main St. is an outstanding collection of 19th and early-20th century architecture. Downtown contains a significant collection of commercial buildings, dating from the first half of the 1800s to the 1950s. A wide range of architectural styles are represented, including Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Renaissance Revival, Beaux Arts, Neoclassical and Chicago Commercial.

In addition to the Mansion Row several other neighborhoods in New Albany are on the National Register, they include Downtown, East Spring St., Cedar Bough, Shelby Place, DePauw Ave., Hedden’s Grove, and the Long-Graf House.

East Spring St. district is just east of the central business district and was a middle- to upper-class neighborhood. The Cedar Bough Place district is a short private street that runs between Ekin Ave. and Beeler St. and was considered one of the city’s most prestigious addresses. The Long-Graf House is a Queen Anne-style house at 1945 E. Elm St.

New Albany Historic Preservation Commission
New Albany – Floyd County Public Library

In 1883, the Southern Exposition of Art, Industry, and Agriculture opened for a five year run on the 40 acre grounds that extended from Park Ave. to Hill St. and from 4th to 6th Sts. The main two-story 600 x 900 sq. ft. wood-framed main building was on the present site of St. James, Fountain, and Belgravia Courts. The marvel of the exposition was the largest ever display of electric lighting, 4600 Edison incandescent bulbs. One million people visited the exposition over five years.

After the Southern Exposition closed and was disassembled in 1887 the area was subdivided to include center greens, three walking courts, and a fountain imported from New England. The original fountain was replaced in the 1970s.

The Conrad-Caldwell House Museum, also known as Conrad’s Castle, is the most stunning of Old Louisville’s homes and defines Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The house was built for a Frenchman who made his fortune in the leather tanning business. The St. James Court Historic Foundation purchased the home in 1987, restored it, and operates the museum today.

The St. James Court Art Show is a juried fine arts and fine crafts show held the first weekend of October that began in 1957 as neighborhood artists displayed art on a clothesline in the center greens, and has turned into one of the biggest and best in the nation, attracting the largest crowds for any event in Kentucky.

The châteauesque-style Pink Palace at Saint James & Belgravia Cts., and the beaux arts-style mansion at Belgravia Ct. & 4th St., should not be missed on a walking tour of the neighborhood. Tours are available seasonally through the Old Louisville Neighborhood and Visitors Center in Central Park and from other guides.

The St. James Court Neighborhood Association and the Belgravia Court Association manage the preservation and upkeep of Louisville’s most elegant neighborhood.

www.oldlouisville.org