Ohio River Scenic Byway
Ohio River Scenic Byway -- Indiana Must See Tour
| Departure: | Hillforest Mansion, Indiana |
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| Destination: | Reitz Home Museum, Indiana |
| Time to allow: | 1 day |
Indiana offers the traveler more unique sights to see along the Ohio River Scenic Byway.
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Start: Hillforest Mansion
Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Thomas Gaff, a prominent industrialist and civic leader, built this home between 1852 and 1856 on a 10-acre tract. Gaff is said to have launched 33 businesses which included breweries, steamboat lines, general stores, a cotton plantation, a silver mine, and a Coke company.
Gaff used only the finest materials to construct the spacious, three-level home. For instance, the parquet flooring is Circassian walnut and the keyhole covers are porcelain.
The interior of the mansion is highlighted with elaborate, Italian-molded 18-inch-wide plaster borders, bay windows, Belter-type Victorian furniture, a melodeon, a Fisher piano, Smilie engravings, and iron fireplace mantels.
The belvedere provides a sweeping view of the river and still houses Gaff's large brass telescope.
Although its style is usually classified as Italian Renaissance, this home's style is sometimes said to be "Steamboat Gothic" because it resembles a pilot house with its circular porches, coupled columns, and round cupola.
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Stop 2: J.F.D. Lanier State Historic Site
Directions from previous place: Travel along Hwy. 56 and continue on Hwy. 156 to Madison. The road is very curvy.
Distance from Previous Site: 60 miles / 96.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 1 hour 30 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Lanier, a successful financier, most often remembered for rescuing Indiana from financial difficulties during the Civil War, built this Classic Revival mansion during the years from 1840-44.
Four generations of the Lanier family lived in the mansion. In 1925, the state acquired the residence and opened it in 1926 as the state's first historical memorial.
The three-story, 18-room mansion was designed by Costigan, whose name is engraved on a small silver plaque on the spiral staircase's newel post. The home's interior also features Costigan's gold-leaf wallpaper and a stock of period furnishings.
Externally, the mansion features a 50-foot-wide (and 30-foot-high) columned portico framed by a distinctive shell-patterned iron railing. The bell on the front lawn dates from 1849 and originally hung in the riverfront terminal of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad.
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Stop 3: Madison
Directions from previous place: The J.F.D. Lanier State Historic Site is in Madison.
Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Along with the J.F.D. Lanier State Historic Site, Madison has several historic sites open to the public as well as a wonderful Main Street. This was one of the three pilot Main Street communities in the country. You may want to stay a few hours to see the town.
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Stop 4: Clifty Falls State Park
Directions from previous place: Travel west out of Madison to the Clifty Falls State Park.
Distance from Previous Site: 1 miles / 1.6 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 2 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 2 hours The 1336-acre park follows the deep limestone gorges formed by Clifty and Little Clifty Creeks. The park features a handful of waterfalls and moderate-to-difficult hiking trails. Camping facilities, picnic areas, tennis courts, modern lodging, and an Olympic-size swimming pool are also available.
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Stop 5: Howard Steamboat Museum
Directions from previous place: Follow Hwy. 56 out of Madison and head south on Hwy. 62, just past the town of Hanover. Highway 62 will take you to Jeffersonville. The Howard Steamboat Museum is at 1101 East Market Street in Jeffersonville.
Distance from Previous Site: 40 miles / 64.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 45 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour 30 minutes The Howards, three generations of premier steamboat builders, had operated so successfully since 1834 that in 1941 the U.S. Navy purchased their "largest inland shipyard" for war purposes. The corporation still operates today, under the name of American Commercial Barge Line Service (JeffBoat, Inc.)
In 1894 the second generation of Howards built a Victorian Mansion. This mansion has been converted into the Howard Steamboat Museum, which not only displays many of the Howard's original furnishings and family possessions, but a large collection of steamboat-related items: models, tools, paintings, and half-breadth models. Other interesting artifacts come from General Lee.
The largest artifact in the collection is the shaft of the original paddlewheel of the Delta Queen, weighing an amazing 22 tons.
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Stop 6: Falls of the Ohio
Directions from previous place: Head northwest from Jeffersonville on Interstate 65 to Clarksville -- one of the first exits you come to after you get on the freeway. The falls are located on (and in) the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana, at 201 West Riverside Drive.
Distance from Previous Site: 5 miles / 8.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 10 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour These 400-million-year-old Devonian fossil beds are the only natural obstruction of the Ohio River. Consequently, they gave rise to the city of Louisville (on the Kentucky side) and the towns of Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany (on the Indiana side).
Thousands of schoolchildren explore this fascinating outdoor classroom annually. They identify fossils, perform experiments, and listen to accounts of geologic history.
An Interpretive Center features exhibits and a movie depicting the history of the area.
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Stop 7: Corydon Capitol State Historic Site
Directions from previous place: From Clarksville, get back on Highway 62. Continue on Hwy. 62 through New Albany to Corydon. The capitol is at 202 East Walnut Street.
Distance from Previous Site: 25 miles / 40.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 30 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Corydon is the site of Indiana's first capital. Visitors can tour the original capitol building (ca. 1816) and Governor Hendricks's headquarters. The site also includes an informative visitors center.
There are other historic sites and a Civil War battle memorial located in Corydon. You could spend several hours if you went to several of the sites.
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Stop 8: Wyandotte Caves
Directions from previous place: Travel west on Highway 62 to the Wyandotte Caves State Recreation Area.
Distance from Previous Site: 10 miles / 16.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 12 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour According to carbon dating, these caves sheltered human life 3,000 years ago. More recent tribes of American Indians used the caves for shelter, food storage, calcite mining, flint and chert quarrying, and ceremonies.
A variety of walking and spelunking tours are offered for both beginning and advanced cavers. Wyandotte Woods has hiking, camping, picnic areas, etc.
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Stop 9: Hoosier National Forest
Directions from previous place: Continue west on Highway 62 to the Hoosier National Forest. To drive through the park, take Hwy. 66 south.
Distance from Previous Site: 10 miles / 16.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 10 minutes Trophy deer, bass, and turkey fill the backroads and trails of Hoosier National Forest, waiting for the hearty explorer or hunter. Its sandy swimming beaches and shady picnic areas also lend themselves to family fun.
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Stop 10: Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
Directions from previous place: From the Hoosier National Forest, continue west on Highway 66. Go north on Highway 231 to Gentryville, then east on Indiana Hwy. 162, following the signs to 'Lincoln Parks.'
Distance from Previous Site: 50 miles / 80.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 1 hour 5 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour 30 minutes Abraham Lincoln spent 14 of his most formative years (1816-30) on this soil. Here he played, learned to work, developed manual skills, received his early education and love of learning, earned his first dollar, and experienced love and tragedy.
This park's features are both important and interesting. One important feature is the wooded knoll where Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abraham's mother, is buried.
The Memorial Visitor Center is a small museum at which you can see a film and visit the Abraham Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Halls. Exhibits at the visitor center focus on the story of the Lincolns as pioneers on the Indiana frontier.
The Lincoln Living Historical Farm is a working pioneer homestead with a log cabin, outbuildings, split-rail fences, livestock, gardens, and field crops. Rangers dressed in period clothing perform a variety of activities typical of daily life in 1820s.
The Living Historical Farm is open every day from mid-April through September and for a short time in October. From November through mid-April, the buildings are closed and are not staffed; however, visitors are invited to visit and browse around the farm site.
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Stop 11: Angel Mounds
Directions from previous place: Go west on Highway 162 to Highway 231 and follow that south to the Byway (Highway 66). Continue west on Highway 66 and then take Highway 662 through Newburgh. At its intersection with I-164, take 164 west to Angel Mounds. (From the last recorded mileage at Wyandotte, it's approximately 88 miles to Newburgh. The side trip to Lincoln Boyhood is approximately an additional 20 miles there and 20 miles back.) Angel Mounds State Historic Site is Located at 8215 Pollack Avenue, four blocks south of Newburgh Road and seven miles east of downtown Evansville.
Distance from Previous Site: 55 miles / 88.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 1 hour 10 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour Begin your visit to Angel Mounds at the Interpretive Center, where exhibits and artifacts illuminate the lifestyle of the people who once lived here. A replica of a typical archaeological dig shows how the artifacts were unearthed.
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End: Reitz Home Museum
Directions from previous place: Follow I-164 west and then go north to Evansville, on Highway 62. The museum is at 224 S.E. First Street in Evansville.
Distance from Previous Site: 7 miles / 11.2 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 10 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour You begin to feel the luxurious aura of this grand home as you stand at the wrought iron gate--from here the elegant three-story brick facade stares down at you.
Simply step through the solid walnut entryway with its jewel-like leaded glass door panels to begin tasting the opulent lifestyle of a wealthy, late 19th Century family.
The parlor, drawing room, bedrooms, and dining rooms appear much as they did 100 years ago. Authentic period furniture, much of it original, is arranged as if the family will shortly return.
Silk damask-covered walls soar to meet hand-painted ceilings and delicately molded plaster friezes. French gilt chandeliers shine down on one of the home's most beautiful features: the intricately hand-laid wood parquet floors.
Each room displays a different motif. The visual feast continues throughout the house with tiled and marbled fireplaces, wood-paneled hallways in Moorish design, glowing stained-glass windows, and elaborate light fixtures.
