Jeffersonville, Indiana Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== {{see also|Old Jeffersonville Historic District}} [[File:Warder Park.jpg|thumb|Statue at [[Warder Park]] honoring [[Thomas Jefferson]]]] [[File:2016WIKI SpringStreetJeffersonvilleJune.jpg|thumb|Spring Street is the main shopping area in downtown.]] === 18th century === ====Pre-founding==== The foundation for what would become Jeffersonville began in 1786 when Fort Finney was established near where the [[John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge|Kennedy Bridge]] is today. [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] planners chose the location for its view of a nearby bend in the [[Ohio River]], which offered a strategic advantage in the protection of [[settler]]s from [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref name="Nokes-2002">{{Cite book|last=Nokes|first=Garry J.|title=Images of America: Jeffersonville Indiana|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2002|isbn=0-7385-2041-1|location=Charleston, SC|pages=99}}</ref> Overtime, a settlement grew. In 1791 the fort was renamed to Fort Steuben in honor of [[Baron von Steuben]]. Then in 1793 the fort was abandoned.<ref name="JeffHist" /> === 19th century === ==== Early history ==== Precisely when the settlement became known as Jeffersonville is unclear, but it was probably around 1801, the year in which President Thomas Jefferson took office.<ref name="JeffHist">{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofjeff.net/history/historymain.htm |title=Official History of Jeffersonville |publisher=Cityofjeff.net |access-date=July 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720154625/http://www.cityofjeff.net/history/historymain.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2008 }}</ref> In 1802 local residents used a grid pattern designed by [[Thomas Jefferson]] for the formation of a city.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBvVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA29 | title=Biographical and Historical Souvenir for the Counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana | publisher=Chicago Printing Company | year=1889 | pages=29| isbn=9781548571665 }}</ref> On September 13, 1803, a post office was established in the city. In 1808 Indiana's second federal land sale office was established in Jeffersonville, which initiated a growth in settling in Indiana that was further spurred by the end of the [[War of 1812]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} In 1802, Jeffersonville replaced [[Springville, Clark County, Indiana|Springville]] as the county seat of Clark County. [[Charlestown, Indiana|Charlestown]] was named the county seat in 1812 but it returned to Jeffersonville in 1878, where it remains.<ref name="JeffHist" /> In 1813 and 1814 Jeffersonville was briefly the ''de facto'' capital of the [[Indiana Territory]], as then-[[governor]] [[Thomas Posey]] disliked then-[[Capital city|capital]] [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]] and decided to live in Jeffersonville to be closer to his personal [[physician]] in Louisville. The territorial legislature remained in Corydon and communicated with Posey by messenger.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=tjymxfjAKXgC&q=dennis+pennington Life of Walter Quintin Gresham, 1832β1895] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907104659/https://books.google.com/books?id=tjymxfjAKXgC&q=dennis%20pennington |date=September 7, 2023 }}'' By Matilda Gresham (Rand, McNally & company 1919) page 23-23</ref> ==== Shipbuilding ==== {{See also|Howard Steamboat Museum}} In 1819 the first shipbuilding took place in Jeffersonville, and [[steamboat]]s would become key to Jeffersonville's economy.<ref name="JeffHist" /> In 1834, James Howard built his first steamboat, named the Hyperion, in Jeffersonville.<ref name="JeffHist" /> He established his ship building company in Jeffersonville that year but moved his business to [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]], [[Indiana]] in 1836 and remained there until 1844. Howard returned his business to the Jeffersonville area to its final location in [[Port Fulton, Indiana|Port Fulton]] in 1849. There is an annual festival held in September called Steamboat Days that celebrates Jeffersonville's heritage.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Welcome to jeffsteamboatdays.com|url=http://www.jeffsteamboatdays.com/|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=www.jeffsteamboatdays.com|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116151240/http://www.jeffsteamboatdays.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Underground Railroad ==== {{See also|Underground Railroad in Indiana}}As a free state bordering the south, Indiana served as a crucial step along the [[Underground Railroad]]. By 1830, Jeffersonville was the first and largest route for fugitives crossing the Ohio River at Louisville. Hundreds of freedom seekers made their way north to Canada through Clark County.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Clark County Indiana History|url=https://www.co.clark.in.us/index.php/about-clark-county-indiana/clark-county-indiana-history|access-date=October 11, 2021|website=www.co.clark.in.us|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019054217/https://www.co.clark.in.us/index.php/about-clark-county-indiana/clark-county-indiana-history|url-status=live}}</ref> There were many instances where Jeffersonville citizens helped fugitives flee enslavement. In the 1850s, Mayors Oswald Wooley and Uriah Damron were arrested for "running off" enslaved people. In 1863, Hannah Tolliver, a black wash woman, was arrested on the Louisville, Kentucky wharf as she attempted to help another woman cross the Ohio River to freedom. Hannah was convicted and became one of seven women inmates at the Kentucky State Prison at Frankfort. Dr. Nathaniel Field moved from Middletown, Kentucky to Jeffersonville in 1829. He was the head of UGRR activity in Jeffersonville, hiding escapees in his cellar during the day and sending them on to the next "station" at night. Field was President of the Indiana Antislavery Society and friend of Levi Coffin, the head of the Underground Railroad at Cincinnati and at Richmond, Indiana.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} The Rev. Calvin Fairbank was arrested in Jeffersonville for helping the woman, Tamar, escape. He was tried in Louisville and convicted and spent decades in the Frankfort prison.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} ==== Civil War ==== ===== Camp Joe Holt ===== {{See also|Camp Joe Holt}} During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] Jeffersonville was one of the principal gateways to the South. This was largely due to its location directly opposite Louisville. Three railroads (including the [[Jeffersonville Railroad]] and the [[Ohio and Mississippi Railway]]) served Jeffersonville from the north, as well as the waterway of the [[Ohio River]]. Operating in the South, the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] furnished the connecting link between Louisville and the rest of the South. These factors made the city a good location to house supplies and troops for the [[Union Army]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our County Seat|url=https://www.co.clark.in.us/index.php/about-clark-county-indiana/our-county-seat|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=www.co.clark.in.us|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018003547/https://www.co.clark.in.us/index.php/about-clark-county-indiana/our-county-seat|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1862, two area regiments established the first military camp in the city. The location was christened [[Camp Joe Holt]], and the name was retained when the camp was converted to a hospital called Joe Holt Hospital.<ref name="IndHist">{{cite web|title=Camp Joe Holt and Jefferson General Hospital Photographs, 1865, Collection Guide|url=http://www.indianahistory.org/our-collections/collection-guides/camp-joe-holt-jeffersonville-indiana-photographs.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608235043/http://www.indianahistory.org/our-collections/collection-guides/camp-joe-holt-jeffersonville-indiana-photographs.pdf|archive-date=June 8, 2017|access-date=October 17, 2021|publisher=Indiana Historical Society}}</ref> ===== Evacuation to Jeffersonville ===== In September and October 1862, two [[Military forces of the Confederate States|Confederate]] armies led by [[General officer|Generals]] [[Braxton Bragg]] and [[Edmund Kirby Smith|E. Kirby Smith]] closed in on Louisville, a key strategic prize. General [[William "Bull" Nelson]] ordered women and children to evacuate. So many fled across the river to Jeffersonville that the city's hotels and rooming houses were filled to capacity. On September 24, General [[Don Carlos Buell]] and his men managed to reach Louisville barely ahead of the Confederates. The force of 100,000 Union soldiers successfully defended Louisville and forestalled any invasion.<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> ===== Jefferson General Hospital ===== {{See also|Jefferson General Hospital}}Between 1864 and 1866 Port Fulton (now within Jeffersonville) was home to [[Jefferson General Hospital]], the third largest hospital in the country at that time. The institution was built to replace Joe Holt Hospital and occupied land obtained from U.S. Senator [[Jesse D. Bright]], a Confederate sympathizer. The land stretched down to the Ohio River, facilitating patient transfer from riverboats to the hospital. The facility contained 24 wards each radiating out like spokes on a wheel and all connected by a corridor one-half mile in circumference. Each ward was 150 feet long and 22 feet wide and could accommodate 60 patients. Female nurses and matrons were quartered separately from the men. During its nearly three-year existence the institution cared for more than 16,000 patients and served more than 2,500,000 meals.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jeffersonville Jefferson General Hospital Looking West|url=https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/IHS_dc008-1024|access-date=October 17, 2021|website=Indiana Memory|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018003547/https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/IHS_dc008-1024|url-status=live}}</ref> ===== Construction of the Quartermaster Depot ===== {{See also|Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot}} The [[Jeffersonville Quartermaster Intermediate Depot|Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot]] had its first beginnings in the early days of the Civil War as a storage depot for the Union [[Quartermaster]] Department. As the war came to a close all military supply depots along the [[Ohio Valley]] were shut down (except Jeffersonville's), and their supplies were stored at the Jeffersonville location.<ref name="PDF-2012">{{Cite web |title=The Falls City Engineers, Chapter VII: Civil War Engineering and Navigation |page=113 |url=http://publications.usace.army.mil/publications/misc/un22/c-7.pdf |access-date=January 27, 2024 |website=publications.usace.army.mil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321223211/http://publications.usace.army.mil/publications/misc/un22/c-7.pdf |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1871, the U.S. Army began consolidating operations in the city into four square blocks.<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Quartermaster Depot continued supplying troops engaged in [[American Indian Wars|frontier wars]] with Native Americans.<ref name="PDF-2012" /> ===20th and 21st century=== ==== Construction of the Carnegie Library ==== [[File:Carnegie Library Jeffersonville.jpg|thumb|Frontal view of the [[Carnegie library|Carnegie Library]] in [[Warder Park]], Jeffersonville]] On December 17, 1900, Jeffersonville officially opened a new [[Jeffersonville Township Public Library]] in a room above the Citizens National Bank. 1400 books formed the initial collection. Soon, the [[Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching|Carnegie Foundation]] donated $16,000 for the construction of a new library building - a [[Beaux-Arts architecture|beaux arts]], copper-domed landmark. The building was designed by Jeffersonville [[architect]] [[Arthur Loomis]]. Masonic officials laid the building's cornerstone on September 19, 1903, in [[Warder Park]].<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> When the [[Carnegie library|Carnegie Library]] opened in 1905, it contained 3,869 volumes. Whereas in later years grants from the Carnegie Foundation were scaled back to prevent the construction of lavish libraries, the library in Warder Park was relatively ornate.<ref>{{Cite web|last=THOMAS|first=LARRY|title=Jeffersonville celebrates rebirth of Carnegie Library|url=https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/jeffersonville-celebrates-rebirth-of-carnegie-library/article_8a073a5f-714b-530a-b51e-0340af3d4c76.html|access-date=October 8, 2021|website=News and Tribune|date=October 26, 2006|language=en|archive-date=October 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008171314/https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/jeffersonville-celebrates-rebirth-of-carnegie-library/article_8a073a5f-714b-530a-b51e-0340af3d4c76.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the [[Ohio River flood of 1937|Ohio River Flood of 1937]], the library suffered a near total loss of its collection. However, it reopened in November 1937 thanks to months of work and donations of money and books.<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> ==== World War I ==== [[File:Jeffersonville IN American Car and Foundry Co 1909.jpg|thumb|The [[American Car and Foundry Company]] in Jeffersonville, Indiana, 1909]] During [[World War I]], Jeffersonville contributed to the war effort largely through its production capabilities. On the eve of war, the Quartermaster Depot began producing a wide range in items, including [[Saddle seat|saddles]], harnesses, stoves, and kitchen utensils. Most famously, though, the depot produced 700,000 shirts per month, earning it the nickname "America's largest shirt factory."<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> Meanwhile, the [[American Car and Foundry Company]]'s local plant manufactured a variety of products ranging from components for over 228,000 [[artillery]] [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] to 18,156 cake turners.<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> Shortly after the war ended in 1918, civilian employment at the Quartermaster Depot fell to 445, and military presence dropped to just ten [[officer]]s and two [[Enlisted rank|enlisted]].<ref name="Nokes-2002" /> ==== Religious revivals in the 1920s ==== {{See also|Roy Elonzo Davis|William M. Branham}} For a brief period in the mid-1920s and early 1930s, [[Roy Elonzo Davis|Roy E. Davis]], a founding member of the 1915 [[Ku Klux Klan]], hosted a series of [[Revival meeting|religious revivals]] in Jeffersonville.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 22, 1930|title=Davis Is Released In Police Court|work=The Courier Journal}}</ref> He also moved his First Pentecostal Baptist Church there, and held revivals in neighboring states. Meanwhile, he routinely challenged the ''Jeffersonville Evening News'' for its depiction of his church, eventually starting a new publication called ''The Banner of Truth'' to publicize his services and aid recruitment.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 18, 1931|title=Church Publicity Policy Explained|work=Jeffersonville Evening News}}</ref> Much of his popularity stemmed from his vocal opposition of [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davis|first=Roy|date=February 5, 1930|title=A Preacher On Prohibition|work=The Courier Journal}}</ref> In 1934, a fire destroyed Davis's First Pentecostal Baptist Church. After years of legal trouble, Davis was denied a permit to rebuild. He left Jeffersonville, and [[William M. Branham|William Branham]] - formerly a ministering elder in Davis's church - became [[pastor]] of the congregation. Branham moved the group to a new building, eventually naming it [[Branham Tabernacle]], as it is known today.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021|reason=Need a source for verification}} ==== Flood of 1937 ==== {{See also|Ohio River flood of 1937}} Jeffersonville was one of many communities affected by the Ohio River flood of 1937. After record rainfall in mid-January, 90% of the city was flooded, electricity was lost, all roads leading into the city were covered, and a levee failed. The [[Indiana National Guard]] deployed to the area to help those displaced, distribute much-needed emergency supplies, inoculate residents for typhoid fever, and purify drinking water. Finally by the end of the month the water began to recede. The flood left an estimated $250 million worth of damage throughout the Ohio Valley.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Slavey |first1=Ashley |last2=Simms |first2=Megan |last3=Cunningham |first3=Wes |last4=Brumfield |first4=Eric |last5=Morrison |first5=Katy |title=Great Flood of 1937 |url=https://publichistory.iupui.edu/items/show/150 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=Discover Indiana |language=en |archive-date=September 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914195355/https://publichistory.iupui.edu/items/show/150 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=NOAA |title=The Great Flood of 1937 |url=https://www.weather.gov/lmk/flood_37 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=www.weather.gov |language=EN-US |archive-date=October 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004002220/https://www.weather.gov/lmk/flood_37 |url-status=live }}</ref> ==== "Little Las Vegas" ==== [[File:Jeffersonville, Indiana City Hall.jpg|thumb|220px|City Hall in the Quadrangle complex]] In the 1930s and 1940s, gambling was instrumental in Jeffersonville's recovery from the [[Great Depression]] and the Flood of 1937. This earned the town the nickname "Little [[Las Vegas]]".<ref>{{Cite web|last=West|first=Gary|title=Club Greyhound had many colorful characters, stories|url=https://www.bgdailynews.com/community/club-greyhound-had-many-colorful-characters-stories/article_9f159709-c531-5da2-90c9-4998954c8853.html|access-date=October 7, 2021|website=Bowling Green Daily News|date=August 5, 2018|language=en|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007194916/https://www.bgdailynews.com/community/club-greyhound-had-many-colorful-characters-stories/article_9f159709-c531-5da2-90c9-4998954c8853.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During this time, Jeffersonville attracted the likes of [[Clark Gable]], [[John Dillinger]], [[Al Capone]], and others. After Clarence Amster, a [[New Albany, Indiana|New Albany]] resident was gunned down on July 2, 1937, public sentiment turned against gambling and the mobsters it brought. In 1938, James L. Bottorff was elected judge and announced that gambling would not be tolerated. The Club Greyhound, a major dog racing track known for fixing races, was raided and closed within a year, with others soon following.<ref>{{Cite web|last=BOYLE|first=JOHN|title=NOW AND THEN: Goons, gambling, Greyhounds in Little Las Vegas|url=https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/now-and-then-goons-gambling-greyhounds-in-little-las-vegas/article_7ec5fc96-d7ce-11e9-a036-63975d1c7c00.html|access-date=October 7, 2021|website=News and Tribune|date=September 15, 2019|language=en|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007194706/https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/now-and-then-goons-gambling-greyhounds-in-little-las-vegas/article_7ec5fc96-d7ce-11e9-a036-63975d1c7c00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== World War II ==== Having acquired the [[Howard Shipyards]] in 1925, the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] awarded the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company (later known as [[Jeffboat]]) a contract to build boats during [[World War II]]. Jeffboat built landing vessels such as the [[Landing Ship, Tank|LST]], and swelled in number of employees from 200 to 13,000 people. After the war ended, the Navy sold the Howard Shipyard to Jeffboat.<ref name="Grady" /> Also during [[World War II]], the Quartermaster Depot, in conjunction with [[Fort Knox, Kentucky|Fort Knox]], Kentucky, housed [[Germany|German]] [[prisoners of war]] until 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qmfound.com/jeffersonville.htm |title=Jeffersonville Quartermaster Intermediate Depot - History and Functions |publisher=Qmfound.com |access-date=July 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802012558/http://www.qmfound.com/jeffersonville.htm |archive-date=August 2, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianamilitary.org/CA%20POWs/POW-GERMAN/Camp%20Austin%20Report/Camp%20Austin%20Rpt.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525050517/http://www.indianamilitary.org/CA%20POWs/POW-GERMAN/Camp%20Austin%20Report/Camp%20Austin%20Rpt.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |title=The German Prisoner of war camp in Indiana }}</ref> ==== End of segregation ==== Jeffersonville ended [[Racial segregation|segregation]] in its public schools in 1952, two years before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] case ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' ruled that segregation was [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]]. Prior to this, [[Jeffersonville High School]] was reserved for white high school students. Meanwhile, black students in grades one through twelve were sent to Taylor High School.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reel|first=Greta|date=May 12, 2020|title=The History and Legacy of Jeffersonville's Taylor High School|url=https://thehyphennews.com/2020/05/12/taylor-high-school-jeffersonville/|access-date=October 8, 2021|website=JHS Hyphen Newspaper|language=en|archive-date=October 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008202051/https://thehyphennews.com/2020/05/12/taylor-high-school-jeffersonville/|url-status=live}}</ref> While the [[The New York Times|New York Times]] held up Jeffersonville as a model for all "southern-minded" cities, integration came at a cost. Though black students were allowed to attend the newly integrated Jeffersonville High School, black instructors previously employed at Taylor High School were terminated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stepro|first=Diane|title=Taylor High School - Segregated Education in Jeffersonville, 1872-1954|url=https://publichistory.iupui.edu/items/show/563|access-date=October 8, 2021|website=Discover Indiana|language=en|archive-date=October 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008202051/https://publichistory.iupui.edu/items/show/563|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Missing information|section|50 years of history and development|date=October 2021}} ====Annexation==== On February 5, 2008, the city of Jeffersonville officially annexed four out of six planned annex zones.<ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1714061801.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+8%2C+2008&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Jeff+absorbs+4+annexed+areas Jeff absorbs 4 annexed areas](by Harold J. Adams) ''[[Courier Journal]]'' February 8, 2008 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103095223/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1714061801.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+8,+2008&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Jeff+absorbs+4+annexed+areas |date=November 3, 2012 }}</ref> The proposed annexation of the other two zones was postponed due to lawsuits. One of the two areas remaining to be annexed was [[Oak Park, Indiana|Oak Park]], Indiana an area of about 5,000 more citizens. The areas annexed added about {{convert|5500|acre|km2}} to the city and about 4,500 citizens, raising the population to an estimated 33,100. The total area planned to be annexed was {{convert|7800|acre|km2}}. The areas received planning and zoning, building permits and drainage issues services immediately, with new in-city sewer rates. Other services were phased in, such as police and fire, and worked jointly with the pre-existing non-city services until they were available.<ref>[http://newsandtribune.com/clarkcounty/x519375379/Parts-of-Jeffersonville-annexation-official Parts of Jeffersonville annexation official] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714174858/http://newsandtribune.com/clarkcounty/x519375379/Parts-of-Jeffersonville-annexation-official |date=July 14, 2011 }} (by David Mann) ''[[The Evening News (Jeffersonville)|The Evening News]]'' February 8, 2008</ref> The Clark County Courts dismissed the lawsuits against the city on February 25, 2008.<ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1714078301.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+26%2C+2008&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Jeffersonville+annexation+challenge+is+rejected Jeffersonville annexation challenge is rejected](Ben Zion Hershberg) ''[[Courier Journal]]'' February 26, 2008 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103095355/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1714078301.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+26,+2008&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Jeffersonville+annexation+challenge+is+rejected |date=November 3, 2012 }}</ref> This dismissal brought the remaining Oak Park area into the city. The population of the city grew to nearly 50,000 citizens, making it the largest annexation in Jeffersonville's history.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} ====Big Four Pedestrian Bridge and Big Four Station==== {{see also|Big Four Bridge}} [[File:2016 WIKI JeffersonvilleBig4Station June14.jpg|thumb|Big Four Station is a park that opened in 2014 at the base of the Big Four Bridge.]]Conceived in the 1990s and completed in 2014, the [[Big Four Bridge]] was converted to a [[pedestrian bridge]] in a joint effort between Kentucky and Indiana governments. An average of 1.5 million pedestrians and bicycles cross the roughly-1/2 mile bridge each year. 1/4 mile ramps complete the bridge on each end. The bridge is also decorated with a colorful LED lighting system that operates from twilight to 1 am. The lights can be customized by request.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Big Four Bridge {{!}} Waterfront Park|date=May 25, 2008|url=https://ourwaterfront.org/feature/big-four-bridge/|access-date=October 11, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027181814/https://ourwaterfront.org/feature/big-four-bridge/|url-status=live}}</ref> On the Jeffersonville side of the bridge the city constructed Big Four Station, a plaza and park. The park features green space, fountains, a farmers market on Saturdays, a restroom, a bike-sharing station, a pavilion, a playground, and easy access to downtown shops and restaurants.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 9, 2015|title=Big Four Bridge and Big Four Station - Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc.|url=https://www.jeffmainstreet.org/downtown-revitalization/big-four-bridge/|access-date=October 11, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=October 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025105443/https://www.jeffmainstreet.org/downtown-revitalization/big-four-bridge/|url-status=live}}</ref> Big Four Station is also the home of the annual [[Abbey Road on the River]], the largest Beatles-inspired music festival in the world, as well as other annual celebrations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://www.arotr.com/about-1|access-date=October 11, 2021|website=Abbey Road on the River: May 26β30, 2022|language=en-US|archive-date=October 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028165649/https://www.arotr.com/about-1|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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