The Vance-Tousey House ca 1818

Explore the grounds

    Samuel C. Vance built this magnificent Federal style mansion in approximately 1818. The main hall is graced by a soaring circular staircase which reaches from the first floor to the attic. At one time there was a secret closet under the stairs, reportedly used by Vance to hide his money. The remains of a huge kitchen are still in the basement. 
Picture
Vance-Tousey Historical Marker, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
Picture
Vance-Tousey House, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
Picture
Timeline displays in the Vance-Tousey house, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
Picture
Timeline displays in the Vance-Tousey house, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
     As you approach the house you are actually looking at the back porch. The Vance house, with its ornate palladian windows, faced the river, and in pre-levee days looked out over a lane flanked with trees leading form the river landing. AFter Vance died in 1830, the house became an early co-educational college run by his daughter and her physician husband, and it was later sold to successful merchant Omer Tousey.
Picture
Vance-Tousey staircase, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
     When the property was sold to the Touseys in the 1870's, it included a large brick stable, brick house, shrubbery, fruit and shade trees. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

 McHenry, Chris. A Walk through time; Original walking tour of            Lawrenceburg Indiana. Lawrenceburg Public Library, 2007.
Picture
Staircase handrail in the Vance-Tousey house, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
Picture
Interior details, Vance-Tousey house, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
Picture
Display in Vance-Tousey house, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Photo by DCHS, 2017.
In 2013, the Southeastern Indiana Master Gardener Association partnered with DCHS to create a plan to restore, replant and maintain the Vance-Tousey House's grounds. The design of the landscape was furnished by Purdue University landscape students and includes trees, herbs, flowers, and shrubs that would have been common in the early 1800s. Tours, and maps of the landscape are available. Contact the Dearborn County Historical Society at 812-537-4075 to learn more.