A Gateway to Freedom
Historical Marker
(22.2004.1)
Footnote 1
As early as 1821, enslaved blacks seeking freedom crossed the Ohio River from Louisville to New Albany.
The first sentence of this newspaper advertisement titled "New Albany" in the Philadelphia Aurora of August 19, 1813 states: "This town, just laid out with spacious streets, public square, market, &c. is situated on the banks of the Ohio River, at the crossing place from Louisville to Vincennes, about two miles below the Falls, in the Indiana Territory, affords a beautiful and commodious harbor."
First page of An Act to incorporate the town of New Albany, approved February 5, 1836,
Indiana Laws of a Local Nature 1836, pp. 76-82.
First page of An Act to incorporate the city of New Albany, approved February 14, 1839,
Indiana Laws of a Local Nature 1839, pp. 103-15.