Old Jeffersonville

Old Jeffersonville. . The earliest settlement in Jeffersonville was ca. 1786 with the construction of Fort Finney near what is now the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge. A settlement grew around the fort which was renamed Fort Steuben in 1791, honoring Baron von Steuben, the Prussian-born American Revolutionary war commander. The fort was abandoned in 1793. In 1802, Lieutenant Isaac Bowman transferred some of his land to a local board of trustees for division into streets and lots. President Thomas Jefferson, for whom the new town was named, recommended that a “checkerboard” pattern of blocks be established, allowing open areas for trees and turf. It was thought that foliage would not only be used for recreation, but it would also clean the air and help prevent disease. The modern day Preservation Park on Market Street is a remnant from this plan. Jefferson's plan was eventually altered in 1817, and the town was replatted into a more conventional gridiron pattern., From 1802 to 1811 Jeffersonville was the county seat, but lost that designation to Charlestown. Local officials persevered, and the seat was returned to Jeffersonville in 1878., Old Jeffersonville, recognized as a typical Midwest river town, has been placed in the National Register of Historic Places. The well preserved homes and commercial buildings date to the glory days of river traffic and commerce., From this point you can see the historic railroad bridge, named for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the “Big Four”. Although vacated by the railroad in the late 1960s, the iron bridge is a historically significant structure., By the Way: The Big Four Bridge is part of a Kentucky-Indiana trail system that will transform the resource into a pedestrian walkway., (Captions) , . (Left) Spring Street looking north in the 1920s. , . (Center) Looking south down Spring Street in 1897. , . (Right) Jeffersonville as seen from the Big Four Bridge looking upstream, c. 1909.