South Central Indiana Trip Idea 1
Starting in Madison, this 57-mile trip will take you along the southernmost tip of Indiana to New Albany/Jeffersonville. Begin your trip in scenic parks along the Madison riverfront. When you’re done overlooking the Ohio River, begin travelling down State Route 62. Be sure to enjoy the museums, parks and historical sites along the way. Finish your trip with a day in New Albany/Jeffersonville, where you can stay busy exploring restored homes and historical districts.
Sites to see & things to do (listed from east to west):
Madison Riverfront
Madison, Indiana
800-559 2956
Madison’s scenic riverfront park offers a gazebo, brick walkways, lights and benches to view the Ohio River.
Madison Commercial Historic District
Madison, Indiana
800-559 2956
Downtown Madison is Indiana’s largest historical district, containing over 1,000 19th century structures and two national Historic Landmarks – the Lanier Mansion State Historic Site and the Shewsbury-Windle House.
James F. D. Lanier State Historic Site
601 W. 1st St.
Madison, Indiana
812-265-3526
Greek Revival Home of J.F.D. Lanier who supported Indiana’s Civil War Regiments. National Historic Landmark.
Incline Railroad
Madison, Indiana
Madison has the steepest grade non-cog railroad in the United States (5.89%). Irish immigrant railroad workers used the stones from the incline to construct St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in 1839.
Eleutherian College
6927 West State Road 250
Madison, Indiana
812-866-7129
A National Historic Landmark, Eleutherian College was constructed between 1854 and 1856. It as the first college in Indiana to admit students without regard to race or gender. Some of the college’s trustees were the most active in the Underground Railroad.
Clifty Falls State Park
2221 Clifty Drive
Madison, Indiana
812-273-8885
This state park provides picnic areas, a nature center, Olympic size swimming pool, campsites and an inn with conference facilities. Trails allow hikers to enjoy the beauty and challenge of deeply cut gorges, sheer rock walls and plunging waterfalls.
Hanover College
517 Ball Drive
Hanover, Indiana
812-866-7000
Hanover College is the oldest private college in Indiana. Sitting on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River, it is noted for its classical architecture and includes the oldest continually used collect building in the state – a small 1832 gothic church.
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.
Culbertson 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.
