South Central Indiana Trip Idea 2

Starting in New Albany/Jeffersonville, this 118-mile trip will take you along the southern Indiana border to Tell City, which is just west of the state’s southernmost point. Begin your trip in Thomas Jefferson’s “ideal city,” then take State Route 62 to Leavenworth. Continue the trip on State Route 66 to Tell City. Along the way, you’ll be able to choose from at least 25 historical and cultural sites to stop and explore. Cap off your trip in Tell City, a town full of Swiss heritage and love for their namesake, William Tell.

Sites to see & things to do (listed from east to west):

Historic Main Street of Jeffersonville
Jeffersonville, Indiana
812-283-0301
Laid out in 1802, after a plan for an “ideal city” by Thomas Jefferson, Jeffersonville’s main street includes a variety of architectural styles, with Italianite the most prevalent. Also, Jeffersonville was once a hub of the Union Army.

Howard Steamboat Museum
1101 East Market Street
Jeffersonville, Indiana
812-283-3728
This 22-room, late Victorian mansion – built by the Howard family – features stained and leaded glass windows and original hand-carved furnishings. Artifacts and models of famous boats built in the Howard Shipyards are exhibited.

Old Jeffersonville Historic District
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Placed on the National Register in 1983, the district is bound by Court and Graham Streets, the Ohio River and Route 65. It’s home to the 1837 Grisamore House and the 1832 Henry French House, both of architectural importance and on the National Register.

Schimpff’s Confectionery
347 Spring Street
Jeffersonville, Indiana
812-283-8367
In business for over a century, Schimpff’s Confectionery is an old-fashioned candy store complete with soda fountain and tin ceiling. It is one of the oldest family-owned candy businesses in the country with patrons from around the globe.

Falls of the Ohio State Park
201 West Riverside Dr.
Clarksville, IN 47129
812-280-9970
The 386 million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world. Overlooking the fossil bed is an interpretive center featuring a short movie as well as river and marine aquariums.

George Rogers Clark Homesite
201 West Riverside Dr.
Clarksville, IN 47129
812-280-9970
George Rogers Clark built a cabin in 1803 on a rocky point above the fall that now overlooks Corn Island and Louisville, which he founded in 1778. It is considered the best lookout and picnic spot in Falls City. Located at Falls of the Ohio State Park.

Culburtson Mansion
914 E. Main St.
New Albany, Indiana
812-944-9600
In the style of the French Second Empire, the Culbertson Mansion allows visitors the opportunity to peruse the restored home via a three-story finely carved staircase. The affluent William S. Culbertson built it in 1867.

Mansion Row District
New Albany, Indiana
800-552-3842
The wealth generated by New Albany’s rise to prominence during the 19th century created an elite class who erected many distinctive commercial and residential buildings along Main and Market streets near downtown.

New Albany Historic District
New Albany, Indiana
800-552-3842
Brothers Joel, Abner and Nathaniel Scribner, who had arrived at the Falls of the Ohio a short time earlier from New York City, founded New Albany in July 1813. Named for the capital city of the founders’ home state, New Albany was platted by surveyor John Graham on land the Scribner brothers had purchased from Colonel John Paul of Madison. This site was originally part of George Rogers Clark’s grant from the Virginia legislature.

Polly’s Freeze
5242 State Road 62
Georgetown, Indiana
812-945-6911
This ice cream stand serves as an icon of roadside Americana. It is the vestige of a local man’s trip to Florida in the 1950s.

Corydon Capitol State Historic Site
202 E. Walnut St.
Corydon, Indiana
812-738-4890
Serving as Indiana’s first State Capitol, the blue limestone building was completed in 1816. The House of Representatives occupied the lower room, the Senate Chamber and the Supreme Court upstairs. The capital was moved to Indianapolis in 1825.

Old Town of Leavenworth
Leavenworth, Indiana
888-755-2282
Founded in 1818, this community was once one of the principle shipping points along the Ohio River. A natural amphitheater surrounded by bluffs, the town thrived until 1937, when a flood destroyed it and the town was moved to the bluffs.

The Overlook Restaurant
1153 W. State Rd. 62
Leavenworth, Indiana
812-739-4264
The Overlook occupies a structure once built to triumph over floods, which housed a chicken hatchery and small café/grocery store. The restaurant specializes in good home cooking and reasonable prices, with a dramatic panoramic view of the Ohio River.

Stephenson’s General Store and Museum
618 West State Road 62
Leavenworth, Indiana
812-739-4242
Offering an eclectic mix of goods, Stephenson’s General Store and Museum is over 90 years old. Housed in the basement is the museum, just as interesting as the hodgepodge of items above.

Hoosier National Forest
812-547-7051
Perry County, Indiana
This 197,000-acre forest offers outdoor recreational activities including camping, hiking, fishing and hunting, as well as horse and bike trails. 

Cannelton Locks and Dam
Perry County, Indiana
The Cannelton Locks and Dam is located on the Ohio River at mile 720.7 below Pittsburgh, PA and three miles upstream from Cannelton. The navigation locks are located on the right descending bank on Indiana side of the river. The upper pool maintained above the dam extends upstream for a distance of 114 miles to the McAlpine Locks and Dam at mile 607 and for a short distance up the Salt River.

Indiana Cotton Mill
310 Washington Street
Cannelton, IN 47520
Once the largest industrial building west of the Alleghenies, the Cannelton Indiana Cotton Mill’s first cornerstone was laid in May 1849. The mill has a unique place in history, as it made uniforms for the Civil War as well as material for uniforms for both World Wars.

Tell City
Tell City, Indiana
812-547-7933
The Swiss Colonization Society, headquartered in Cincinnati, was dedicated to purchasing a homestead site where a variety of Swiss-German workers could form a city with a diverse community. The site of present day Tell City was founded in 1858.

Tell City Pretzel Company
1315 Washington St.
Tell City, Indiana
812-548-4499
At the Tell City Pretzel Company, visitors can watch as workers produce pretzels the original way – by hand twisting them. One of the few in the world to operate in this manner, the company’s secret-recipe pretzels are for sale on the premises.

Statue of William Tell
Tell City, Indiana
812-547-7933
Sitting in front of City Hall serving as the town centerpiece is the Statue of William Tell, namesake of Tell City. The statue is a reflection of the town’s Swiss heritage and a tribute to the legendary Swiss hero.