Andrew and Mary Israel purchased this lot in 1842 and built this well-known hotel and boarding house, which originally included a ballroom on the west side of the building. During New Albany's steamboat era in the mid-1800s, many captains, pilots and engineers from the south brought their families here in the summer months, to escape the yellow fever. At the time, the Israel House was called "the most aristocratic boarding house in the city," and conversation here frequently centered around steamboat races.

The hotel operated for over forty years, with different proprietors but retaining the Israel House name. According to a newspaper account of 1886, baker Frank Losson, purchased the building and converted it to a business and his residence. The limestone storefront was added at that time, and likely the Italianate cornice and window hoods.   

The photos below are both from the collection of the Indiana Room of the Floyd County Library. The photo with the truck shows the building during its tenure as a furniture store. while the other is from about 1965.