Seidl - New Albany

NEW ALBANYS OLDEST HOME. Joel Scribner built this clapboard house, the first frame dwelling in the city, in 1814. Compared to its log cabin neighbors, the home, pictured here around 1904, was spacious and elegant. The rooms on the first floor were primarily used for socializing and dining. The second floor held two bedrooms and a nursery, and the Scribner children used the third floor as a play area. The kitchen was in the basement of the home. Double porches on the rear of the house provided spectacular views of the mighty Ohio River and the bustling waterfront of the fast growing settlement. The Piankeshaw Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution bought the property from Harriet Scribner in 1917, and allowed her to live in the home until her death in 1932. Today the shining white house and its beautiful gardens provide a peaceful oasis on the busy corner of State and Main Streets. (Courtesy Indiana Room.)

THE CULBERTSON MANSION. William Culbertson bought an entire city block on the eastern edge of town in the early 1860s to build this spectacular French Second Empirestyle home for his wife Eliza, but a shortage of skilled laborers delayed construction until the Southern Rebellion was suppressed, and Eliza never lived in the magnificent home on Main Street. She died of typhoid pneumonia in 1865.Culbertson married his second wife, Cornelia, on January 10, 1867, and the couple lived in the 20,000 square foot mansion until her death on October 18, 1880. At the age of 70, Culbertson married his third wife, Rebecca Keith Young, and the newlyweds filled the 25-room home with art, furniture, and curiosities they found on their six-month honeymoon adventure through Europe, Asia, and Africa. His youngest daughter, Blanche, accompanied them on their trip. After his death in 1892, Rebecca bought a home in Louisville, Kentucky, because Louisville had one very important amenity most of New Albany lackedelectricity. The mansion was leased out while Culbertsons heirs battled in court, and when John McDonald eventually bought the home at auction, he paid only $7,100; construction had cost approximately $120,000. (Courtesy Indiana Room.)

CORNELIA CULBERTSON MEMORIAL ORPHANAGE. To honor Cornelia, William Culbertson had this orphanage built on Ekin Street in 1882 for a reported $22,000. The children who lived here were given one issue of clean underclothing a week, after their weekly bath on Saturday. When the orphanage closed, the Floyd County Health Department used the building, which was eventually razed to make room for an apartment complex. (Courtesy the Cody Collection.)