Howard Steamboat Museum


The Howard Steamboat Museum, or the Howard National Steamboat Museum, is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, across from Louisville, Kentucky. Based in the old Howard home, it features items related to steamboat history. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Origin

The home was built in 1890 by Edmonds J. Howard, who inherited the family shipyard from his father James Howard, who founded the Howard Ship Yards, both in what was then Port Fulton, Indiana. It cost $100,000 to build the 22-room, 3-floor Late Victorian style red brick structure. Still within the museum are chandeliers, carvings, arches and a grand staircase that reflect the wealth Edmonds Howard had. As the Howards prided themselves on their hulls, a large collection of the half-breadths is displayed on the property. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Howard Home.
The New York firm of Drach and Thomas designed the house, while a local man, Arthur Loomis supervised the project. They chose the bulky Richardson Romanesque style, while including exterior features such as red brick cladding and stained-glass windows. Keeping with the theme of the Howard family business, they installed a stairway fully copied from the stairway of the steamboat J. M. White.
Over the course of ownership of the Howard Shipyards, 3,000 ships were launched in what to its day is the largest inland shipyard in the United States. The Howard Shipyard was eventually made into Jeffboat.

Museum

On March 17, 1971, a fire broke out in the museum; the museum reopened the next year.

Gallery