New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

, opposite

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Floyd County. It is bounded by I-265 to the north and the

to the south, and is considered part of the

Louisville metropolitan area The Louisville metropolitan area is the 43rd largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States. It had a population of 1,395,855 in 2020 according to the latest official census, and its principal city is Louisville, Kentucky. T ...

. The mayor of New Albany is Jeff Gahan, a Democrat; he was re-elected in 2023.

History

Early history

The land of New Albany was officially granted to the United States after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The territory had been captured by

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...

in 1779. For his services Clark was awarded large tracts of land in Southern Indiana including most of Floyd County. After the war, Clark sold and distributed some of his land to his fellow soldiers. The area of New Albany ended up in the possession of Col. John Paul. New Albany was founded in July 1813 when three brothers from New York —Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel Scribner—arrived at the Falls of the Ohio and named the site after the city of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. They purchased the land from Col. John Paul. New Albany was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted by John Graham on land owned by the Scribner brothers. In 1814, Joel and Mary Scribner built their home in New Albany; the Scribner House still stands today. New Albany was incorporated as a town in 1817 as part of Clark County. In 1819, three years after Indiana was admitted as a state, New Albany became the seat of government for newly established Floyd County. A courthouse was finally built in 1824. New Albany grew rapidly and was the largest city in Indiana from 1816 until 1860, when it was overtaken by

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, over half of Hoosiers worth over $100,000 (~$ in ) lived in New Albany, making it by far the wealthiest part of the state. The steamboat industry was the engine of the city's economy during the mid-19th century. Fueled by abundant forests for lumber, at least a half-dozen shipbuilders were in operation and turned out a multitude of steamboats and packet boats, including the ''

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

'', '' Eliza Battle'', the ''Eclipse'', and the ''A.A. Shotwell''. Shipbuilding was accompanied by a wide range of ancillary business including machine shops, foundries, cabinet and furniture factories, and silversmith shops. Its second largest business was the American Plate Glass Works. In 1847, the city was connected to the port at

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west o ...

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

via the Monon railroad. In 1853, the New Albany High School opened, the first public high school in the state. The original school was built at the corner of West First Street and Spring Street. New Albany would also be the first in the state to create a consolidated school district several years later. Ashbel P. Willard, governor of the state of Indiana, dedicated the Floyd County Fairgrounds in 1859. That year, the Indiana State Fair was held in New Albany. During the Civil War, the fairgrounds were converted to become Camp Noble and used as a muster point for the area's regiments.

Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, New Albany served as both a supply center for Union troops and as a medical care center for wounded soldiers. Up to 1,500 wounded soldiers were treated in New Albany during the war, and many non-medical buildings were converted into makeshift hospitals. In 1862,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

established one of the first seven national cemeteries in New Albany for burying the many war dead. Despite the ongoing war, a new courthouse was built in 1865, which was used until the 1960s, when the current City-County courthouse was constructed, also the first in Indiana. Downtown New Albany

The Town Clock Church, now the Second Baptist Church, was used as the New Albany stop in the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. The original steeple was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1915, and a new replica steeple was not completed until 101 years later in 2016. NACemetery

During the Civil War, New Albany businesses were boycotted by Confederates because it was in a Union state and by the North because it was considered too friendly to the South. Indianapolis overtook New Albany as Indiana's largest city in 1860, and across the river, Louisville's population grew much faster. New Albany never regained its original stature. The once robust steamboat industry ended by 1870, with the last steamboat built in New Albany named, appropriately, the ''

''. During the second half of the 19th century, New Albany experienced an industrial boom despite the collapse of the steamboat industry. The advent of railroads created economic opportunity for the city as a pork packing and locomotive repair center. A bridge was built across the

in 1886, providing a rail and road connection with Kentucky. American Plate Glass Works opened in 1865 and employed as many as 2,000 workers. When the factory relocated in 1893, New Albany lost a large part of its population and went into economic decline.

20th century

In the early 20th century, New Albany became a center of plywood and veneer manufacturing, and its largest employer was the New Albany Veneering Company. By 1920, New Albany was the largest producer of plywood and veneer in the world, with other producers including Indiana Veneer Panel Company and Hoosier Panel Company. On March 23, 1917, a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

struck the north side of New Albany, killing at least 46 people. Interstate 64 was built through New Albany in 1961 and led to the construction of the Sherman Minton Bridge. The project cost $14.8 million. The bridge was named for U.S. Senator and later U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton, who was a native of nearby Georgetown and practiced law in New Albany. The bridge was named the "most beautiful long-span bridge of 1961" by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

Education innovation

Charles A. Prosser lived in New Albany for much of his life. Charles Allen Prosser School of Technology was named in honor of his accomplishments as the "father of

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

." In the mid and late 20th century, New Albany became an innovator in using electronic media in education. New Albany High School, a public school, started WNAS-FM in 1949, which is the nation's oldest continuously operating high school radio station. In the late 1960s, Slate Run Elementary School started WSRS, a non-licensed student-produced closed-circuit television service for its classrooms, one of the nation's first in an elementary school.

Ohio River flood

In January 1937, a major flood struck the region. New Albany, like the other river towns, had no flood walls and no methods of regulating the river. The

rose to 60.8 feet at New Albany, leaving most of the town under 10 or more feet of water for nearly three weeks. The flood was the worst disaster to befall the city. After the flood, New Albany was the first city in the region to begin construction on massive flood walls around the city. New Albany's flood walls served as examples for those constructed around Louisville and Clark County.

Geography

New Albany is located at (38.301935, −85.821442). According to the 2010 census, New Albany has a total area of , of which (or 98.87%) is land and (or 1.13%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 37,841 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 78.3% White (non-Hispanic), 9.2% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 2.4% from other races and 7.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.1% of the population. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, the Median Household Income in New Albany was $54,152, compared to the Indiana state average of $69,477. According to the same survey, 18.4% of the population in New Albany lived below the poverty line, compared to 12.3% of Indiana as a whole.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 36,372 people, 15,575 households, and 9,175 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 17,315 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 85.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 1.7% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population. There were 15,575 households, of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 18.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 22.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.9% were from 25 to 44; 26.4% were from 45 to 64; and 13.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 37,603 people, 15,959 households, and 10,054 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 17,098 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.00%

, 12.93%

, 0.31% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.67% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. 1.36% of the population is

(Hispanics can be of any race). There were 15,959 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were

living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,923, and the median income for a family was $41,993. Males had a median income of $31,778 versus $24,002 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $18,365. About 11.4% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the

Poverty threshold The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions

New Albany's Main Street features a large collection of late 19th century mansions from the city's heyday as a shipbuilding center. The centerpiece is the Culbertson Mansion, a three-story French Second Empire Style structure, which is today an Indiana state memorial. Every October, New Albany hosts th
Harvest Homecoming
festival, one of the largest annual events in the state. Festivities begin on the first weekend of October, but the main part, consisting of midway rides, shows, and booths lining the downtown streets, lasts from Thursday-Sunday of the second weekend in October. The 2020 Harvest Homecoming was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Education

Indiana University Southeast, one of the eight campuses of the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

system, is located on the northern edge of the city. The Purdue Polytechnic Institute also maintains a satellite campus in the city. New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation operates public schools. The Children's Academy of New Albany is the public preschool program. Elementary schools in the city limits include: * Fairmont Elementary School * Green Valley Elementary School * Mount Tabor Elementary School * S. Ellen Jones Elementary School * Slate Run Elementary School Grant Line Elementary School is in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

near New Albany. Middle schools in the city limits include: *Hazelwood Middle School *Nathaniel Scribner Middle School. New Albany High School is the city's senior high school with the city being in its attendance boundary. The Greater Louisville Regional Japanese Saturday School (グレータールイビル日本語補習校 ''Gurētā Ruibiru Nihongo Hoshūkō''), a Japanese weekend supplementary school, is affiliated with IUS's Japan Center. It was established in January 1988 and holds its classes at Hillside Hall; its office is elsewhere in New Albany. The city has a free lending library, the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library.

Notable people

* Jamey Aebersold – jazz musician, publisher of "play-along" music books * William Wallace Atterbury (1866–1935) – Brigadier General in the U.S. Army during World War I * Carl Braden – Civil Rights activist * Pomeroy Cannon – Physician, stage and film actor * William Cochran – Indiana state legislator and businessman * Angelina Maria Collins – author of the first

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

published in Indiana * Rob Conway – pro wrestler * Josh Dallas – Actor who was born in Louisville, Ky., but went to New Albany High School * Aubrey Hampton (1934–2011) – biochemist and writer * Billy Herman (1909–1992) – infielder in Major League Baseball during 1930s and 1940s, member of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame * Houndmouth – American alternative blues band *

Edwin Hubble Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. Hubble proved that many objects previously ...

– astronomer and namesake of Hubble Space Telescope * Ferdinand N. Kahler (1864–1927) – inventor, entrepreneur and automobile pioneer *

Karen Kamensek Karen Kamensek (born January 2, 1970, in Chicago) is an American orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Kamensek's parents immigrated from Kamnica, Maribor, Kamnica pri Mariboru, Slovenia to the United States, eventually settling in the Lou ...

– ''Grammy'' nominated orchestral and operatic conductor * J. Warren Kerrigan – actor, was born in New Albany * Charles M. La Follette – member of Congress, was born in New Albany * Romeo Langford – professional basketball player * Dusty Ray Bottoms – a drag queen and musical artist * John MacLeod – college and pro basketball coach *

Max Macon Max Cullen Macon (October 14, 1915 – August 5, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball player, a Minor League Baseball, minor league player-manager and pitching coach, and a professional baseball scout (sports), scout. Born in Pensacola, ...

– Major League Baseball pitcher/first baseman and scout * George W. Maher – early 20th Century

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

style

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

* Jouett Meekin – Major League Baseball pitcher who won 153 games * Sherman Minton – United States Supreme Court Justice who ruled in the landmark ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

'' case in 1954. * Rondale Moore – football player * Lucy Higgs Nichols (1838–1915) – an escaped slave and Civil War nurse * Charles Allen Prosser – the father of

Vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

* Craig Pumphrey – police officer,

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

and martial artist * Joseph Ritter – Roman Catholic archbishop and Cardinal * David H. Rodgers – Mayor of Spokane, Washington * Roscoe Sarles – Indy Car driver * Shanda Sharer (1979–1992) – twelve-year-old torture murder victim * Thomas Smith – Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court * Mike Sodrel – former congressman of Indiana's 9th district * Evan B. Stotsenburg – President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate; Indiana Attorney General (1915–1917) * John M. Stotsenburg – U.S. Army colonel killed in

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

* Laura M. Hawley Thurston (1812–1842), poet, teacher * Camille Wright Thompson – silver medalist in swimming at 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal * S. C. Thompson – editor * Ashbel P. Willard – 11th Governor of Indiana *

Fuzzy Zoeller Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. (; born November 11, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appea ...

– PGA golfer with 20 tour victories

Footnotes

External links

* *
New Albany Glass Works/Star Glass Works, New Albany
{{authority control Cities in Indiana County seats in Indiana Louisville metropolitan area Cities in Floyd County, Indiana Indiana populated places on the Ohio River 1813 establishments in Indiana Territory Populated places established in 1813