Editing New Albany, Indiana (section)

===Early history===
{{US Census population
|1830= 2079
|1840= 4226
|1850= 8181
|1860= 12647
|1870= 15396
|1880= 16423
|1890= 21059
|1900= 20628
|1910= 20629
|1920= 22992
|1930= 25819
|1940= 25414
|1950= 29346
|1960= 37812
|1970= 38402
|1980= 37103
|1990= 36322
|2000= 37603
|2010= 36372
|2020= 37841
|footnote=Source: US Census Bureau
}}
The land of New Albany was officially granted to the United States after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The territory had been captured by [[George Rogers Clark]] in 1779. For his services Clark was awarded large tracts of land in Southern Indiana including most of Floyd County. After the war, Clark sold and distributed some of his land to his fellow soldiers. The area of New Albany ended up in the possession of Col. John Paul.

New Albany was founded in July 1813 when three brothers from [[New York (state)|New York]] —Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel Scribner—arrived at the [[Falls of the Ohio]] and named the site after the city of [[Albany, New York]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Carl E. |editor-first=John E. |editor-last=Kleber |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |chapter=New Albany |page=651 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0-8131-2100-0 |oclc=247857447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |access-date=November 21, 2015 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313151808/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |url-status=live }}</ref> They purchased the land from Col. John Paul. New Albany was [[plat]]ted by John Graham on land owned by the Scribner brothers. In 1814, Joel and Mary Scribner built their home in New Albany; the [[Scribner House (New Albany, Indiana)|Scribner House]]<ref>Today the house is owned by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution</ref> still stands today.

New Albany was incorporated as a town in 1817 as part of [[Clark County, Indiana|Clark County]]. In 1819, three years after Indiana was admitted as a state, New Albany became the seat of government for newly established [[Floyd County, Indiana|Floyd County]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunnysideoflouisville.org/history/newalbany.htm |title=The History of New Albany |date=July 25, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725102716/http://www.sunnysideoflouisville.org/history/newalbany.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2009 }}</ref> A courthouse was finally built in 1824.

New Albany grew rapidly and was the largest city in Indiana from 1816 until 1860, when it was overtaken by [[Indianapolis]]. Before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], over half of Hoosiers worth over $100,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=100000|start_year=1938}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) lived in New Albany,<ref>Miller, Harold,  "Industrial Development of New Albany, Indiana", ''Economic Geography'', January 1938, p.48</ref> making it by far the wealthiest part of the state. The steamboat industry was the engine of the city's economy during the mid-19th century. Fueled by abundant forests for lumber, at least a half-dozen shipbuilders were in operation and turned out a multitude of steamboats and packet boats, including the ''[[Robert E. Lee (steamboat)|Robert E. Lee]]'', ''[[Eliza Battle]]'', the ''Eclipse'', and the ''A.A. Shotwell''. Shipbuilding was accompanied by a wide range of ancillary business including machine shops, foundries, cabinet and furniture factories, and silversmith shops. Its second largest business was the American Plate Glass Works.

In 1847, the city was connected to the port at [[Michigan City, Indiana]] on [[Lake Michigan]] via the Monon railroad. In 1853, the [[New Albany High School (Indiana)|New Albany High School]] opened, the first public high school in the state. The original school was built at the corner of West First Street and Spring Street. New Albany would also be the first in the state to create a consolidated school district several years later.

Ashbel P. Willard, governor of the state of Indiana, dedicated the Floyd County Fairgrounds in 1859. That year, the [[Indiana State Fair]] was held in New Albany. During the Civil War, the fairgrounds were converted to become Camp Noble and used as a muster point for the area's regiments.