Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American industrialist, used his vast wealth to fund his passion for free access to education and literacy. In his lifetime he funded thousands of libraries, schools and universities around the world, donating the modern equivalent of more than 76 billion dollars of his fortune.
Indiana is home to more Carnegie libraries than any other state and New Albany is just one town that benefited from Andrew Carnegie’s generosity. Our stunning home was designed by famed Louisville architectural firm of Clark and Loomis, which would later go on to design the Speed Art Museum. Construction on the library began in 1902 and was completed in 1904.
The building served as the town’s library for 65 years. In 1969, New Albany-Floyd County Public Library moved into much larger premises at 180 West Spring Street, where it remains today.
After the newly vacated former library building was threatened with demolition, a group of citizens formed the Floyd County Museum in 1971 as a local history museum and art gallery. The Floyd County Museum was incorporated into the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library in 1988.
After a major renovation in 1998, the museum was renamed the Carnegie Center for Art and History. In 2023, the museum was renamed The Floyd County Carnegie Library Cultural Arts Center. The name better reflects our library heritage and mission to protect the historic building, to collect, preserve and interpret local history and to promote an appreciation of and participation in the visual arts.
The Cultural Arts Center stands as testament to the dedication of New Albany’s residents – to preserve our town and our region’s past, to educate our children, and to celebrate the arts.
The Cultural Arts Center is pleased to be a member of the United States National Park Service’s Network to Freedom. The Network to Freedom was implemented with the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998 as an effort to connect and preserve local historical places and museums associated with the Underground Railroad. More information on the Network to Freedom can be found here. The Cultural Arts Center’s membership in the Network to Freedom strengthens our mission to preserve the history of New Albany and provide that history to a national network.
