Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site is located in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It is bounded by I-265 ...

by the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

. It was the home of William Culbertson, who was once the richest man in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. Built in 1867 at a cost of $120,000, this Second Empire-style mansion has 25-rooms within , and was completed in November 1869. It was designed by James T. Banes, a local architect. Features within the three-story edifice include hand-painted ceilings and walls,

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

ed ceilings, carved rosewood-grained staircase,

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

fireplaces, wallpaper of fabric-quality, and crystal

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...

s. The original tin roof was imported from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The displays within the mansion feature the Culbertson family and the restoration of the building. The rooms on the tour are the formal

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necess ...

s, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchen, and laundry room. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. In its heyday, a railroad ran behind the house (Culbertson had sold land to the railroad), and a streetcar ran from his house towards downtown New Albany.

History

After Culbertson's death, he willed the home to his third wife, who auctioned off the house and contents in 1899 to John McDonald, also a resident of New Albany, for $7,100. Upon his death, the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of ...

obtained it from McDonald's daughter, Mrs. Helen Croxall. The Legion would make extensive changes to the mansion, making it more suitable for a meeting place. After several different owners, in the 1960s the mansion was in danger of being torn down, in order to put in its place a gas station. Instead, a local historic group called Historic New Albany purchased the mansion in 1964 from the American Legion for $24,000.00. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974 and became a part of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites in 1976. Culbertson Haunted 1

In 1985 the tradition of having a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

started, and for the first two years the Mansion itself was used, using 10 people to acquire $500 as part of a Spook Run. Starting in 1987, the

Carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping ...

House of the Mansion has served as the haunted house. Today, the Haunted House requires 100 volunteers. The Culbertson Mansion performs historic restoration rather than renovation to protect the historical integrity of the home. The eventual goal is to return the mansion to its 1869 appearance, barring necessary newer items such as electricity and bathrooms. It is open for daily tours, Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Funds for restoration are raised by a non-profit group called The Friends of Culbertson Mansion, Inc., as well as the staff of the mansion itself. The Friends not only operate the Haunted House, but hold an herb sale annually in May.

Gallery

File:Culbertson carriage barn.JPG, Carriage barn File:Culbertson back entrance.JPG, Back entrance to the Mansion

References

Sources

* ''My Indiana:101 Places to See'', by Earl L. Conn (

Indiana Historical Society The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) is one of the United States' oldest and largest historical societies and describes itself as "Indiana's Storyteller". It is housed in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center at 450 West Ohio Street ...

Press, 2006). pg.208-9 * Kobrowski, Nicole ''Encyclopedia of Haunted Indiana'' 2008

Citations

External links