Often described as the most beautiful building in the state, the building was two stories tall, constructed of Colorado Red Stone and highlighted with Bedford Stone. The interior was of Victorian Style and the woodwork was oak. The first city...
Charlotte (Lottie) Caplinger was born in March of 1870 in Jefferson County, Indiana to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel W. Pritchard. She was educated in the Jefferson County School system. She married Walter R. Caplinger on June 3, 1890. Mrs. Caplinger was a...
Walter Carl Mundt, Sr., was born in Berlin, Germany on June 16, 1862. He came to America in 1866 at the age of four with his parents, Charles and Bertha Krahn Mundt. The family located in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father passed away in 1881 and his...
The original building at Mulberry and Main was built in the 1850s. In 1861 George Benson, the owner at the time, sold the building to James Hargan who operated a wholesale grocery business there with his son George. Greenville Johnson was taken...
This home was built in about 1872 by Aurelius H. Gibson. Mr. Gibson was in the timber and barrel stave business. He lived most of his life here with the exception of a few years spent in Arkansas where he built a second barrel stave business and...
Tthis home was built in about 1872 by Aurelius H. Gibson. Mr. Gibson was in the timber and barrel stave business. He lived most of his life here with the exception of a few years spent in Arkansas where he built a second barrel stave business and...
"Broadway High School was the first commissioned high school for colored in Indiana" according to Grant S. Murray, Principal of the Broadway School from 1914-1917. In the September 6, 1880 edition of the Madison Courier, the newly opened school...
Herbert, known to the locals as "Rolly", Rowlison was born in 1869 to Manlybert and Viola Rowlison. Rolly never married, staying at home with his parents until their deaths. He worked for many years at Hill's Livery Stable on Broadway. He died May...
Louis A. Ernst, Sr. was born at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania on November 14, 1846. When he was a small child he came with his parents to Cincinnati and in 1850 his family moved to Madison where he resided until his death on April 19, 1928. On October...
Louis Decar was born June 30, 1923 in his beloved Madison. His father, also Louis, was the chief florist at the Madison State Hospital until his death in 1924. His mother, Helen, who instilled in him a deep love and respect for his hometown, raised...
Louis Decar was born June 30, 1923 in his beloved Madison. His father, also Louis, was the chief florist at the Madison State Hospital until his death in 1924. His mother, Helen, who instilled in him a deep love and respect for his hometown, raised...
Steam shovels; Bridges; Ohio River; Road construction
Here is another way steam was used, this time to the detriment of steamboats and railroads. It is seen chopping away at the hillside opposite of Madison, Indiana, where a new road is being made to connect with the Madison-Milton Bridge. The...
West bound train on Vaughn Drive at Mill Street. Visible in photo is locomotive "8606" and box cars on siding located where the old freight depot once stood. The picture was taken about 1949.
The ferry boat "Indiana" plies the river past Madison, Indiana. She, no doubt, is headed up-river where she worked the Carrollton, Kentucky to Lamb, Indiana trade.
Horses; W. H. Rogers; John Louis Spicer; Railroad freight cars
A horse and dray are used to pick up a load of paint for W. H. Rogers of Madison, Indiana. You can see the name on the side of the box car. There was no middleman here. The paint was loaded at the paint factory and delivered directly to Madison...
Steamboats; Riverboats; "City of Madison"; Dikes (Engineering)
Built in Madison in 1882, the boat was the second "City of Madison," the first having been lost in a devastating explosion during the Civil War. On June 18, 1894, she was returning from a trip to Memphis, with a stop-over in Owensboro, Kentucky,...
The "Princess" has a front row seat for the 1910 Madison Regatta. The "Princess" was sister to the "Island Queen" in the Coney Island trade. She was built in 1900. During the terrible winter of 1917-1918 she was wintering at the mouth of the...
Here you can see some of the devastation the ice caused during the harsh winter of 1917-1918. The ferryboat "Trimble" is caught and nearly buried in the thick ice. She did survive but was badly damaged. On February 20, 1918 the newspaper reported,...
Churches; Church schools; Catholic churches; Costigan, Frances; Stone buildings
The Irish railroad workers, being a determined and resourceful lot, began to store the stone torn and blasted from the railroad cuts. It was hauled to the end of Third Street where it was piled and dressed and there the Irish began to build their...
