National Historic Landmark

Shrewsbury, Charles L., House

Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana
Listed
April 18, 1994
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
94001190

About this property

The Charles L. Shrewsbury House (also known as the Shrewsbury–Windle House) is a historic house museum located at 301 West First Street in Madison, Indiana. Built in 1849 to a design by Francis Costigan, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 for its fine Classical Revival architecture. It is located in the Madison Historic District. The Charles Shrewsbury House, also known as the Shrewsbury–Windle House, is the 1848 Greek Revival home of Charles Shrewsbury, a salt-barge riverboat agent, flour manufacturer and pork merchant. Shrewsbury was also the mayor of Madison. The house was designed by Francis Costigan. The Shrewsbury house is a two-story brick building, with a symmetrical 3-bay facade and stone trim details. The building corners feature brick pilasters rising to stone capitals, supporting an entablature punctuated by small attic-level windows. The interior has twelve rooms, thirteen fireplaces and a fifty-three step spiral staircase. The floor to ceiling windows are thirteen feet tall. A man on horseback could easily step through the enormous front and rear doors, which are twelve feet in height. Architectural historians have ranked the house's free-standing spiral staircase as the most impressive part of the interior. Built of pine stairs and cherry railings, the staircase ascends from the middle of the house, supporting its own weight. Aside from allowing access to the second floor, the staircase helps to cool the house: hot air from the first floor can rise through the stairwell and leave the house through the attic windows. National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Indiana 99 Historic Homes of Indiana by Marsh Davis and Bill Shaw, copyright 2002 pages 229–231. Historic American Buildings Survey in Indiana, edited by Thomas M. Slade, copyright 1983, pages 72,73. ISBN 0-253-32741-5 Media related to Shrewsbury-Windle House (Madison, Indiana) at Wikimedia Commons Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. IN-8, "Captain Charles L. Shrewsbury House, 301 West First Street (High & Poplar Streets), Madison, Jefferson County, IN", 17 photos, 2 color transparencies, 16 measured drawings, 63 data pages

Location

301 W. First St.
Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana
38.73485, -85.38293

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Crawford-Whitehead-Ross House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Lanier Mansion
Industrial
0.2 mi
Jefferson County Jail
Industrial
0.4 mi
Madison Historic District
Listed
0.5 mi
Hendricks, Thomas A., Library
Industrial
4.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Morgan's Raid — Vienna Indiana Skirmish
1863Civil War
11.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Shrewsbury, Charles L., House listed on the National Register?

Shrewsbury, Charles L., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 18, 1994.

What type of historic resource is Shrewsbury, Charles L., House?

Shrewsbury, Charles L., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Shrewsbury, Charles L., House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Shrewsbury, Charles L., House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Shrewsbury, Charles L., House?

The period of significance for Shrewsbury, Charles L., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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