Old New Albany

In looking over your late mammoth issue of the 24th inst., with its general representation of the cities great prosperity, and sketches of the lives of many of the men who largely contributed to this laudable end, we could not help comparing it with the city of New Albany as we knew it in 1852. One fine October day of that year the writer landed at Louisville from a Cincinnati packet...At Portland we took one of the Thos. Conner Ferry boats for New Albany. There were no bridges across the river and not one in ten thought such a river ever would or could be bridged. There were a couple of foundries and two or three shipyards where steamboats were built on the river front, and this was the sumtatem of the city's manufacturing interests. The writer and a small trunk containing his worldly goods were conveyed to the "High Street House," a two story frame tavern that stood on the south side of Main street near the park. Main street extended from Falling Run to the DePauw Female College; there may have been a few houses farther up the street. We believe it was Phineas M. Kent that was building a very unique and costly residence in that vicinity that was looked upon then as a nine days wonder, but so many larger residences have been built about it that it ceases to attract attention. Upper Fifth street was the upper edge of the city; between that and where Vincennes street now is, was a fine reach of commons, where in summer time a large number of cows roamed and luxuriated at their sweet will, returning in the gloaming in a drove to the edge of the town, where they separated and each one sought our her owner's domicile. The court house was a very humble two story yellow brick house with a brick floor on the audience side of the bar that separated the people from the lawyers quarters, who were honored with a plank floor...A short distance below the court house was the old Wesley Chapel, a one story church, known as the "Old Ship."...Centenary church was built about this time. The First and the Second Presbyterian churches were erected previous to this date. Also Holy Trinity Catholic church, a Baptist church and two or three smaller churches graced the city at that time. The Ledger as we first knew it was in the hands of John B. Norman, as editor, Lucian Matthews, business manager, Charles Cottom, local editor, and George Jones, carrier...The New Albany Tribune, a whig paper, was published and edited by Milton Gregg, at that time. Those two opposing editors, Norman and Gregg, had many a bout and many keen pen thrusts were made by those two able men. There was but one railroad that came to the city, the New Albany and Salem road, the cars running on the old flat bar. Not only does the city cover twice as much ground as it did then but the part then built over has entirely changed, the one and two story frame houses have been replaced by large blocks of buildings of wood and stone. For the last twenty years the writer has been only an occasional visitor to the city, and therefore has perhaps been more forcibly impressed with its regular and splendid growth than those who have lived there all the time...E.O.H., New Philadelphia