{"id":12,"ordinal":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:41","content_modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:41","featured":0,"title":"New Albany: Commerce and Industry","creator":"University of Louisville Public History Program","description":"<p>Soon after its founding in 1813, New Albany became a leading center of trade and manufacturing.  From the mid-1820s through the Civil War era, shipbuilding fueled the local economy.  New Albany builders produced more than 200 steamboats for operation on western rivers.  Foundries, cabinet makers, and tin and copper smiths prospered.\r\n\r\nThe growing dominance of railroads greatly reduced demand for steamboats, and shipbuilding ended in New Albany immediately after the Civil War.  Other industries, however, soon took its place.  Iron manufacturing and plate glass manufacturing became leading enterprises.  By 1880, the Star Glass Works accounted for more than 40 percent of U.S. plate glass production.  Wool and hosiery mills and leather tanneries rounded out a thriving industrial complex that shipped goods across the nation.\r\n\r\nDuring the early twentieth century, New Albany became a leading producer of plywood, veneer, and other wood products.  The same hardwood forests that had benefited to shipbuilders three quarters of a century earlier remained vital to New Albany's prosperity. Industry remained a significant part of New Albany’s economy into the 1960s, when shifting economic conditions led many plants to shut their doors.  Veneer manufacturing is one of the few industries that survives.\r\n\r\nAlthough few residents work in manufacturing today, its historical role is evident throughout New Albany.  Former manufacturing plants are found in locations throughout the community, and elegant houses built by prosperous merchants and factory owners line portions of Main and Market streets.  Moreover, the quality of housing stock throughout the city attests to the well-paying factory jobs that many residents held.The sites in this tour explore New Albany’s commercial and industrial history.  By highlighting important enterprises and events, they illuminate the historical importance of trade, commerce, and industry in New Albany’s past. </p>","postscript_text":"","tour_img":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/022b99dc1318c92f25c79011c8c3cc35.jpg","items":[{"id":96,"title":"Furniture Corner","latitude":38.28382520000000255322447628714144229888916015625,"longitude":-85.822744599999992942684912122786045074462890625,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/022b99dc1318c92f25c79011c8c3cc35.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/022b99dc1318c92f25c79011c8c3cc35.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":97,"title":"History as a Business","latitude":38.28672999999999859710442251525819301605224609375,"longitude":-85.821878999999995585312717594206333160400390625,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/cd56acf7788e66811d386ed872599917.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/cd56acf7788e66811d386ed872599917.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":98,"title":"The Economic Panic of 1873 and Labor Relations in New Albany","latitude":38.295219000000003006789484061300754547119140625,"longitude":-85.830004000000002406522980891168117523193359375,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/7c2438107a22d864450ca719e6339ec7.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/7c2438107a22d864450ca719e6339ec7.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":99,"title":"New Albany and Salem Railroad","latitude":38.2895769000000001369699020870029926300048828125,"longitude":-85.82335050000000364889274351298809051513671875,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/9b9682b7927837fddee00d934cdd3e94.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/9b9682b7927837fddee00d934cdd3e94.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":102,"title":"Paul Reising Brewery","latitude":38.283080200000000559157342649996280670166015625,"longitude":-85.8293613000000021884261514060199260711669921875,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/65530b47c83b8481d3c3b0671a36b5ae.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/65530b47c83b8481d3c3b0671a36b5ae.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":136,"title":"Old Pike Inn","latitude":38.292923000000001820808392949402332305908203125,"longitude":-85.8285929999999979145286488346755504608154296875,"thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/6e0ba9c50a3ba8c83bed5904734f028e.jpg","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/6e0ba9c50a3ba8c83bed5904734f028e.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}}]}