In the next town downriver, the Cannelton Cotton Mill is the largest pre-Civil War industrial building still standing in the American Midwest. Built in 1849-1851 of locally quarried sandstone, with twin Norman towers flanking the entrance, it was meant to be the foundation of a Northern cotton industry that could rival New England's. The plan never quite came off — the mill struggled, changed hands, and finally closed in 1954 — but the building is a National Historic Landmark and one of the most striking pieces of 19th-century architecture in the state.
The mill is privately owned and has been partly converted to apartments, but the exterior is worth the short detour. Cannelton itself is only ten minutes east of Tell City along Highway 66.