River Views Could Belong to You

For Sale, With a Storied Past

In 1827, Shadrach Hathaway constructed a two-story brick building at the corner of Rising Sun’s Front and Fourth Streets as a general store. Hathaway moved his business to Main Street 20 years later, and the building on Front Street served a range of uses over the years, including a carriage repair shop and — most recently — a restaurant and bar. On the ground floor, original round interior columns and wood pegs that held windows open remain, reminders of the building’s past. In the stone-walled basement, adapted as a bar and banquet room, the entrance to a long collapsed tunnel to the river serves as a centerpiece.

Not long after Hathaway opened his business, Pinckney James — son of Rising Son founder John James – and Able C. Pepper constructed a series of row houses adjacent to the mercantile. The connected buildings now make up a block of river-view property, along with an unattached row house built in the 1830s for the Rising Sun Insurance Company, a name that appears high on the façade. Over the years these buildings served as residences and recently as hotel rooms and suites.

Around the corner up Fourth Street, a group of attached commercial buildings, also constructed in the 1830s, housed a candle-maker, laundry, bakery, and more. Most of the buildings were demolished over the years, but one section attached to Hathaway’s 1827 building remains, most recently used as a gift shop.

Though some rooms are still used as short-term rentals, others are vacant, and parts of the building need repair or renovation. Today the unique site needs a new owner with the vision and capital to make the property a thriving part of downtown Rising Sun.

Located on the Ohio River Scenic Byway and the Indiana Wine Trail, the city is a growing destination when it comes to arts, culture—and beans. Rising Sun’s annual Navy Bean Festival draws visitors from across the region for fall foliage and entertainment. The two-day event features art displays, craft vendors, stage shows, rides and games for kids, and—of course—lots of homemade bean soup and cornbread.

Have a creative vision for how the Courtyard property could fit into this active scene? Check out the property listing online.