Located at the lower end of a natural 24-foot exposed limestone drop along the 2-mile long stretch of the Falls of The Ohio, it was originally a stopping point for people traveling on the Ohio River. Once known as ‘Clark’s Point’, the site is at a high point on a curve in the river, with a view of the falls and the river in both directions.

George Rogers Clark built a cabin here in 1803 as a ‘retirement home’ in order to live independently from his sister at Locust Grove.

This log cabin is a representation of a cabin that George Rogers Clark may have lived in. The original Clark cabin at this location was destroyed in 1854. This cabin was originally in Osgood, in Ripley County, Indiana, and was moved to and rebuilt at this site in 2001.

The small cabin in the rear is a replica of the McGee’s cabin. The McGees were African-American indentured servants of George Rogers Clark. The McGee’s lived in a settlement called Guinea Bottoms, located close to the creek on the property, one of the first freed African-American communities in the Northwest Territory.

The 7-acre tract is part of the Falls Of The Ohio State Park and part of a 1404 acre National Wildlife Conservation Area run by the Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources and the Falls of the Ohio State Park and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

George Rogers Clark Park is accessible 24 hours a day. The cabin is open from Memorial Day weekend through October on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm. 1102 W. Harrison Ave., Clarksville, IN.

DESTROYED BY FIRE, MAY, 2021

Falls of the Ohio

This garden estate, circa 1855, began as a modest two-story Italianate house, a style popularized in Louisville during the mid-19th century. Originally on twenty acres, and part of Spring Station on Beals Branch, a tributary to Beargrass Creek that runs through the property.

The original home was eight rooms, four over four, with a steep narrow staircase in a center hall.

The house sold in 1860, and again in 1909, which is when major renovations were made to convert the building into the Southern-style Greek Revival mansion we know today. Wings were added to three sides, along with the iconic portico and columns on the façade.

Major changes to the interior were made, including removal of walls and the addition of structural columns. Fireplaces were removed and the ceiling heights were changed. The staircase and center hall were also added at this time.

The last family to live in the house bought it in 1924, their son took ownership in 1948 and lived there until 1992 and bequeathed the property to the Historic Homes Foundation.

Open for tours
Monday–Friday, 10–2
3110 Lexington Rd.

www.historicwhitehall.org

A centerpiece of a 300-acre historic site, called Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing house, circa 1837, stands as a testament to the important role agriculture played along the river in the development of our country.

Two upper-middle-class farming families, the Farnsleys, and later, the Moremens, brought the Riverside property to life by cultivating the fields and trading on the river. In the 19th century, the Ohio River served as one of America’s superhighways and the families who lived at Riverside took advantage of their location.

From around 1820 until 1890, an active riverboat landing on this property allowed people traveling by river to stop to trade goods, to take on boilerwood for fuel, or to rest. In addition, a ferry operated out of Riverside carrying people and goods back and forth between Indiana and Kentucky.

The Farnsleys built the two-story brick “I” house, with a Greek Revival portico, by 1837 and prospered at the Ohio River farm, 13 miles downriver from Louisville.

The Moremens purchased the land in 1862 and acquired additional surrounding properties bringing the size of the farm to 1,500 acres, the largest farm in Jefferson County, at the time. Moremen family descendants owned the property until 1988 when they sold the house and remaining acreage to Jefferson County.

Grounds are open sunrise to sunset seven days a week, year-round.
Visitors Center Open Tuesday – Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Visitors are offered guided tours of the house and grounds.
Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, year-round.
Sundays, 1 pm to 4:30 pm (March – November). Closed on Sundays – December through February.
Tours begin in the Visitors Center at half past the hour. The last tour is at 3:30 pm.

$6/Adults; $5.00/Seniors (60+); $3/Children (ages 6-12); Children 5 and under are free. Family Rate: $15.00 (2 adults with up to 3 children under age 18).

Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing

In 1834, 19-year-old James Howard started his shipyard on the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, IN, and began building his first boats. During its three generations, and 107-year history, the Howard Shipyard built over 3,000 vessels, and created the largest inland shipyard in America.

The story of the family, and their famous riverboats, are well preserved in the mansion and museum.

The 22-room Romanesque Revival home was built across from the shipyard in 1894. The woodworking craftsmanship is visible in the interior, reminiscent of their elegant steamboats. Steamboat enthusiasts can get lost in the museum’s collection of thousands of artifacts.

Among artifacts on display are items from the legendary Robert E. Lee, the Natchez, and the Howard-built J. M. White. The largest single artifact is the shaft of the original paddlewheel of the Delta Queen. The museum has a collection of 5,000 photographs, origina shipbuilding tools, documents, paintings, and scaled models from the steamboat era.

The Howard’s control of the shipyard ended in 1941, when it was purchased by the U.S. Navy for World War II and construction of ‘Landing Ship Tanks’ or ‘LSTs’, sub-chasers, and other ocean-going vessels.

The Howard tradition of shipbuilding continues today as Jeffboat, and is “the oldest continually operated inland shipyard in the country.”

A bell cast and made in Cincinnati, in 1874, for the original Mississippi Queen, which ended operation in 2008, is on display. It’s an enduring symbol of the magnificent era of shipbuilding that is being preserved today.

www.howardsteamboatmuseum.org