Howard Steamboat Museum

The Howard Steamboat Museum, or the Howard National Steamboat Museum,[2] is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, across from Louisville, Kentucky. Based in the old Howard home, it features items related to steamboat history. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Howard Home
Side view of Howard Steamboat Museum
Location in Clark County
Location in Indiana
Location in United States
Location1101 E. Market St., Jeffersonville, Indiana
Coordinates38°16′52″N 85°43′33″W
Area1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built1890 (1890)
ArchitectDrach and Thomas
Architectural styleLate Victorian
NRHP reference No.73000031[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 5, 1973

Origin

The home was built in 1890 by Edmonds J. Howard, who inherited the family shipyard from his father James Howard, who founded the Howard Ship Yards, both in what was then Port Fulton, Indiana. It cost $100,000 to build the 22-room, 3-floor Late Victorian style red brick structure. Still within the museum are chandeliers, carvings, arches and a grand staircase that reflect the wealth Edmonds Howard had. As the Howards prided themselves on their hulls, a large collection of the half-breadths is displayed on the property.[3]:2–3 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Howard Home.[1]

The New York firm of Drach and Thomas designed the house, while a local man, Arthur Loomis supervised the project. They chose the bulky Richardson Romanesque style, while including exterior features such as red brick cladding and stained-glass windows. Keeping with the theme of the Howard family business, they installed a stairway fully copied from the stairway of the steamboat J. M. White.[4]

Over the course of ownership of the Howard Shipyards, 3,000 ships were launched in what to its day is the largest inland shipyard in the United States. The Howard Shipyard was eventually made into Jeffboat.

Museum

On March 17, 1971, a fire broke out in the museum; the museum reopened the next year.[3]:2

  • The museum circa 1909

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Images from Clark County". Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  3. "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2015-08-01. Note: This includes Thomas M. Slade (September 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Howard Home" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-01. and Accompanying photographs.
  4. "Howard Steamboat Museum, the Howard Home". National Register of Historical Places-Nomination Form. 5 July 1973. Retrieved 6 November 2017.



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