Images of Christmas from Historic New Albany

View this entire gallery and more images of New Albany at http://tedf.smugmug.com/

Happy Holidays from Loop Island

The Loop Island Wetlands (http://www.loopislandwetlands.com/) is a favorite destination of mine. It’s an urban park that offers much to visitors – peaceful serenity, wonderful views and a connection with nature rare to have within walking distance. Balmy December Sunday mornings are a great time to visit.

Downtown New Albany at Night

I'd been itching to take the camera downtown one evening and do some night photography. The shadows, street lamps and neon signs all contribute to give a new perspective to what would be ordinary during the day.

The city was bustling this night too. I had a lot of funny looks from passers by. One elderly couple exiting South Side let me know "it was awful late for taking pictures". I guess they were right.

Photo Highlights - 2006

Some photo highlights revisited from around New Albany. Enjoy.

Happy Fall from Cedar Bough Place

Posting-Lite - See New Albany Preservation.com

I'll be getting back to some regular writing soon. In the mean time, check out NewAlbanyPreservation.com for news and events related to history and preservation in New Albany and Floyd County.

http://www.newalbanypreservation.com/

Why a Home Tour is Important

New Albany Historic Home Tour
Saturday, September 9th
10:00am – 5pm
*Tour begins at the Farmers Market – corner of Market and Bank Streets where you'll pick up your tour book and begin a self-guided tour of New Albany.
See www.NewAlbanyPreservation.com for ticket purchase information or buy your ticket the day of the event - $15 – at the Farmers Market

There have been numerous home tours in New Albany in past years. Why is this one different?

This will be the first home tour to highlight homes in all four of New Albany’s local historic districts – Cedar Bough Place, Downtown, East Spring Street and Mansion Row. It will be a rambling tour through out the city (see the map in the "News" section at www.NewAlbanyPreservation.com).

You’ll see a little bit of everything – from humble cottages to massive mansions. The full list is below:

1. Scribner House – corner of State and East Main Streets



2. Elsby Building – corner of Pearl and Spring Streets
3. German Methodist Church, 418 East Spring Street
4. Sloan-Bicknell-Paris House, 600 East Main Street



5. Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site, 916 East Main Street
6. Michael C. Kerr House, 1109 East Main Street
7. Gillenwater House, 1320 East Market Street
8. Herter-Brewer-Sanders House, 920 East Spring Street



9. Vernia-Smith-Harshfield House, 1116 East Elm Street
10. Potts House, 1219 East Elm Street
11. Kiel-Egan House, 836 Cedar Bough Place
12. Coleman-Guthrie-Fulmore House, 838 Cedar Bough Place

There’s something for everyone on this list. And of course gardens at some of the homes will be featured as well.

Ultimately, a home tour is a great way to get the word out about a neighborhood. It’s all about marketing – and Develop New Albany and the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission strongly believe a home tour will help improve and preserve our neighborhoods.

Twelve homeowners feel the same way and have graciously allowed their homes to be invaded for seven hours on Saturday, September 9th.

So buy a ticket, tell a friend and spread the word at your workplace. This is our chance to market ourselves and show off for a day.

P.S. – if you are interested in volunteering 2 to 3 hours of your time to be a house greeter and provide security at a home, please contact us directly at hometourNA@msn.com.

The Flute is Safe

This post will be a little out of character. A lack of time has prohibited writing lately. Don’t expect regular postings until sometime in September. We’ll get back to the standard formula then of pretty pictures, local history and encouraging readers to share history.

Between now and then, expect some more information on the upcoming New Albany Historic Home Tour – Saturday September 9th. For crying out loud, buy a ticket! My sanity depends on it. I don’t care if you go on the tour – just by a ticket! See NewAlbanyPreservation.com for more information.

Now back to this story. I recently experienced a day that was uniquely New Albanian. I seriously doubt the chain of events I’m about to relate could or would ever happen any where else in the Universe.

This was a day in the life of a New Albanian (me) and I suppose someday it may be considered history. So I’m putting it on this site. It’s all true. No embellishment at all, but I have changed some names to protect identities.

Friday, July 21st. It started normally enough. I worked a half day and took the afternoon off. I had stuff to do. This was the date of Historic Landmarks moveable feast – an event I was looking forward to.

I was on my way home from work when things got interesting. Pulling into my driveway I noticed a neighbor with a phone in her hand standing across the street from my house. I pull in the driveway and she runs up to my car.

“There’s robbery in progress at Tina’s house! I’m on the phone with the police!”

Tina’s house is across the street from mine and apparently another vigilant neighbor had witnessed a break in and called the police. She told me a skinny white guy had knocked on Tina’s front door and when nobody answered (Tina was not at home) he’d tried to kick it in. Failing in that attempt, he’d walked to a side door and smashed stained glass in the door and got in the house. The vigilant neighbor called the police and then I pulled into my driveway. Keep in mind this is happening at 1pm in the afternoon.

So we walk over to the sidewalk in front of Tina’s house and stand there. We can look directly into her kitchen window from our vantage point. We see the burglar standing in the kitchen. He’s just standing there looking back at us.

I felt the impulse to wave at him. Maybe he thought my neighbor with the phone just happened to be chatting with a friend?

The police replied promptly – arriving in minutes after the call. He pulls up as we’re standing there, gets out of his car and stands next to us. We’re all looking at this guy. He’s looking back. I’m thinking this may be the dumbest burglar on the face of the planet.

The officer starts heading towards the house and finally the burglar starts moving. He exits the same door he entered and takes off through the backyard heading towards the alley. The Officer pursues on foot.

I’d be lying if I told you I considered, even for a millisecond, joining the chase. It didn’t even cross my mind. However, in hindsight I know that even in my loafers I most certainly could have kept up with the guy. I have a lot of good qualities, but I guess crime fighting superhero is not among them. I let the police do their job.

So we’re standing there. We rehash the chain of events. We wonder if the Officer has caught the guy. A few minutes pass. I see a guy walking up the street towards us. It’s a neighbor that I’ve not met. He introduces himself and right away I notice something is not right with him.

He’s got nothing to do with the burglary. He’s totally insane. And he picked this exact moment in time to walk down and visit. In all seriousness, he was a sick individual. In the next few days I would find out he was suffering from a bi-polar disorder and had stopped taking his medication.

But at this moment in time, he’d come down to chat. After some incoherent babble about the Mexican mafia he informed us he was trying out for the Indianapolis Colts that weekend and that he could run a 4.1 second forty yard dash.

Then he proceeded to run some forties for us.

At the same time I notice two women walking down the street towards us. They’re barefoot. They’re rather large (no offense intended here, just trying to frame the moment). One is wearing a tube top. The other is wearing “care bear” pajamas. The inform us they live on 11th Street and were listening to the police scanner. They walked up to take a look at the action. They said they even saw a skinny white guy running down 11th Street.

Satisfied that the action was over, they waddled back down the street, I assume to continue scanner monitoring and looking for action.

Our disturbed neighbor is a bit winded after running a few forties. The heat index was well over a 100 and he’d had quite a workout.

The Officer returns, via another patrolman’s car. He didn’t catch him! Our disturbed neighbor introduces himself and informs the Officer that he’d arrested him for his first DUI years ago. We all got a chuckle out of that.

A very distressed Tina drives up and bursts into her home. The Officer accompanies her inside and we wait for about ten minutes. I’m thinking the burglar got away with some jewelry, dvd player, cash, or something else of easily portable value.

Tina let us know that everything was still there, except her flute! “Flute” I thought? Did she just say flute? Then the Officer walked around the home from the backyard.

“Tina, we found your flute.” That’s right. The burglar had dropped the flute in the backyard after the Officer started his pursuit. The flute was safe.

Nothing was gone from the home. This was the dumbest burglar on the face of the planet.

So ended the excitement on “the Bough” about thirty minutes after it had started.

I proceeded to the Moveable Feat and enjoyed it immensely. This was the annual meeting for the southern regional office of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Over 100 people from around the state were in town. Our host’s on Main Street did a wonderful job.

Despite the mother of all thunderstorms blowing through, the evening went off without a hitch. A walking tour kicked off the event – luckily it ended before the storm hit. We only had a few minor interruptions by the occasional passing pick-up truck honking a horn with occupants giving the standard New Albany greeting of “Waaaah Whoooo!” along with a friendly wave.

I bailed on the desert portion of the feast, suffering from a pounding headache that I attribute to drinking one to many glasses of some incredibly sweet Huber wines. But before drifting off to sleep I took stock of this very unusual day:

*There’s never a dull moment in this town.

*New Albany is full of people with wonderfully colorful personalities.

*If you see a guy running down the street with a musical instrument, please call the police immediately.

*At the end of each trying day, know that we’ve still got a lot to be proud of in New Albany and we can show it off pretty darn well when we work at it.

A House that's worth a look - The McFall-Rouff House

Brick Queen Anne homes are rare in New Albany. One of the most impressive could be yours soon. 1911 East Elm Street (The McFall-Rouff House) is scheduled for Sheriff's sale on August 22nd. The house would be a project - but could be spectacular in the hands of the right buyers.

Visit http://www.historicnewalbany.com/ (the sheriff's sale section) for more detail. The history of the home, prepared by David Barksdale, is below along with current and past (1909) photographs.



The McFall-Rouff House
1911 East Elm Street (Outstanding architectural rating)
Built c.1888. Queen Anne. This beautiful brick, Queen Anne house was built between 1888 and 1889 for Charles W. McFall, a carrier for the U.S. Post Office. In his later years, Mr. McFall had a grocery at 1422 East Elm Street. In November of 1904, Dr. Hettie McFall sold the home. There were several owners before William F. Ruoff, a lawyer, purchased the house in August of 1913 and lived here for over 30 years. Mr. Ruoff died in December of 1944 and his widow, Lee, remained in the home until May of 1965.


Property will be sold at Sheriff's Sale on the 22nd day of August, 2006 at 10:00am at the Floyd County Sheriff's Department, 1st Floor, City County Building, 311 West 1st Street, New Albany, Indiana. For additional information contact Joyce Banet in the Sheriff's Office at 812-948-5408

NewAlbanyPreservation.com - NAHPC Website

As some regular readers may know I am a member of the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission (NAHPC). One of the duties to be carried out by the Commission is to promote public interest in preservation by carrying out public relations and education programs. Our Preservation month activities (walking tours, workshops, etc.) are examples of that advocacy campaign.

I am proud to announce we have a new tool to promote preservation in New Albany – NewAlbanyPreservation.com

Visit the site now and you’ll see news on New Albany’s upcoming Historic Home Tour. Residents of our historic districts will also be happy to see the Historic District Design Guidelines City of New Albany available for viewing online (just click the “Resource” tab on the home page).

There will be tweaking and further development in the coming months. The goal of the site is to provide guidance and technical assistance about the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings, design assistance and information about New Albany’s historic districts.

Along with our parent site, HistoricNewAlbany.com, New Albany can now boast of a healthy preservation web presence. It’s a darn positive trend.

The site would not have been possible without the work of Jim Sprigler – East Spring Street resident and volunteer extraordinaire. Thank you Jim.

Happy 4th of July

Have a happy and safe 4th of July.

Images of Chautauqua

See the previous two posts for more history on Glenwood Park and Chautauqua.

Images provided by David Barksdale - Floyd County Historian.

The Chautauqua tent after a thunderstorm blew through town.

Chautauqua in Glenwood Park, New Albany

As promised, here is more history of Chautauqua in New Albany and Glenwood Park. The passage below is taken directly from “Glenwood Park, Chautauqua, Pageants”, by Bebe Cody, May 24, 1988.

Glenwood Park was inaugurated to be a resort area, a place for recreation and entertainment, but it also became a source for culture and education when Chautauqua was in session.

During the year the park opened, 1903, Dr. John Baldwin of Jeffersonville, envisioned the Park as an ideal location in which to introduce Chautauqua to the surrounding area. He, with 10 other prominent men from New Albany and Jeffersonville formed the Chautauqua Association.

Chautauqua was a traveling institution that flowered in the late 19th and early 20th Century, providing education, concerts, readings, dramatic performances, even magicians. It was founded in Chautauqua, New York – hence the name – and most often presented outdoors or in a tent. August 5 – 14, 1904, one year after the Park opened, saw our first Chautauqua, the beginning of a golden age of culture.

William Jennings Bryan, the silver tongued orator, and three times unsuccessful candidate for President of the United States opened the ten day assembly. Also on that first series was May Wright Sewell, one of the prominent women of the day in the country. At various times in the 1890’s she had served as the President of the National Council of Women, President of the International Council of Women, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Women’s Suffrage Association.

As was usual in the Chautauqua movement local groups of merit would also be included, and that year The Treble Clef Club, a woman’s singing organization under the direction of Mrs. Henry Terstegge appeared one evening as part of a Grand Concert along with the Cleveland Ladies Orchestra and a noted female singer.

A noted magician and his company provided great entertainment for both young and old. But perhaps the most exciting presentation that year was the Edison Projectoscope, with scenes projected on canvas, some with figures in motion.

The 14 days that August were a huge success and every year thereafter through 1916 the Fall Cities and surrounding towns eagerly anticipated and experienced a happy, informative, entertaining vacation lifestyle in beautiful Glenwood Park.

A large tent seating 3000 (see below) and equipped with electric fans was erected in the athletic field, beyond the ball diamond, toward the creek. An area was set aside in the Park for “Tent City” (directly below the tent). Families would rent tents and camp out for the duration of the assembly. Clubs and organizations would have a tent and townspeople would rent one as a place of rest between programs. Wood floors could be contracted for with the park carpenters and stools, comforts, blankets could be rented. A list of boarding houses and hotels was available for those coming from the surrounding towns and not wishing to camp out.



A dining room would serve meals, but grocers would deliver orders placed by telephone on the grounds. Mail would be delivered daily if addressed care of A. Heimburger, Superintendent of the Chautauqua Association. Special police would guard the grounds day and night. Bells would announce the time of programs afternoon and night. At 11:00pm bells requested peace and quiet until 6:00am.

Chautauqua brought many prominent, nationally known speakers to Glenwood – Eugene Debs, the Socialist, Billy Sunday, the Evangelist, men running for State and National Office. Charles Fairbanks, a former Vice President of the United States, made a hit when he turned over the $200 check handed him to St. Edwards Hospital. He even refused to accept expense money. No doubt he was given the Chautauqua salute, instead of applause one showed appreciation by waving a handkerchief.

At times Opera Companies and Shakespeare groups added a touch of high culture to the programs.

During its hey-day our Chautauqua was thought to be the 3rd largest in the country, due to its size and number of people attending.

1916 saw the end of annual Chautauqua in Glenwood Park. There were financial troubles and the war clouds were gathering in Europe. An attempt was made to revive it after the war. In 1922 a 10 day assembly was held, July 29 though August 7. For weeks the papers carried glowing articles about the excellent groups and speakers to be presented, William Jennings Bryan among them, but that was the last of the Chautauqua in Glenwood.

Chautauqua was certainly a golden age in Our History in New Albany. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.

This is the view today from Glenwood Court looking towards Silver Creek and the approximate location of the Chautauqua tent.