This historic government building was completed in 1873 and features a blend of Italianate and French Second Empire styles, reflecting the optimism of the post-Civil War era in Louisville. The exterior features a 195-foot clock tower and several engravings that depict the centrality of agriculture and river traffic in the city's early years. The architects of the City Hall included John Andrewartha and C.S. Mergell, as well as the firm C.L. Stancliff and Co. Little is known about Andrewartha, except that he arrived in Louisville on July 4, 1865 without money, friends, or acquaintances. Historians believe that, in addition to the City Hall, Andrewartha designed the Courier-Journal building, the Central Colored School, and the Nicholas Finzer School.
The Kentucky Medal of Honor Memorial is dedicated to the 56 Kentuckians who have received the Medal of Honor since the creation of the award in 1861. The memorial is engraved with the names of service members who have received the award dating from the Civil War to the present. The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest decoration for battlefield valor. The memorial depicts Army Sergeant John C. Squires, a Louisville resident who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Italy during World War II.
Originally known the Jefferson County Armory when it was built in 1905, the Louisville Gardens building now stands as a multi-purpose arena for a variety of events. First opening in 1905 as an actual armory complete with drill halls and ammunition for the local branch of the state militia, the historic building has witnessed more 20th-century Louisville history than most other buildings. Because the armory included a swimming pool, rifle range, and other recreation infrastructure, the Louisville community used the building as a gathering place right from the beginning. After 1945, the building became home to the University of Louisville basketball and later, at various points, both the Kentucky Colonels and the Kentucky Wildcats. In 1963, the building was converted into the Louisville Convention Center where many famous individuals would eventually host events in Louisville. However, when the Kentucky International Convention Center was built in 1975, the building was renamed yet again to what it is today, the Louisville Gardens. Currently owned by Metro Louisville, it was used to house victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2004, and it currently is in use as a warehouse. Its future remains uncertain as developers make bids on the building.
The Business Women’s Club was a club for professional women established in 1899 by 37 leading women of Louisville. The founders include educator and philanthropist Patricia Blackburn Semple and Jennie C. Benedict. Semple directed the women of Louisville in the relief effort for World War I. Benedict was a chef, caterer, and author who opened Benedict's restaurant and tearoom on South 4th Street in 1900. She is best known as creator of "Benedectine," a sandwich spread that remains a Kentucky favorite.
Louisville's Cathedral of the Assumption is both the third oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States and the fourth oldest public building in Louisville. The historic grounds were consecrated in 1830, though the current cathedral wasn’t built until 1852. The cathedral has seen quite a lot of history, from the anti-immigrant Bloody Monday riots of 1855 to the fallen soldiers of the Civil War.
African Americans in Louisville protested segregation throughout the 1950s with mixed results. Though school integration passed in 1956, much of the rest of Louisville life remained racially segregated. The anti-segregation movement reached a critical mass in February 1960 when the a delegation of white and black community leaders expressed frustration at the failure of the city council or Mayor Bruce Hoblitzell to support their demand for a municipal ordinance banning segregation. In the spring of 1961, in part inspired by the successes seen in Greensboro, NC, the African American community effectively acted to organize major stand-ins in local department stores.
The Starks Building, built in 1913 on the site of the former First Christian Church of Louisville, utilizes 14 stories of architecture and has over 395,505 square feet of space. Commissioned by local businessman John Starks Rodes, the building was designed by architects in the Daniel Burnham firm of Chicago. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its historical contribution to the Lousiville business district as well as its showcase of Beaux Arts designs popular in Chicago, and in many major cities, at the beginning of the 20th century. Soon after its completion, the Starks Building has endured as a prominent visual and practical landmark of the Louisville downtown scene.
Completed in 1905, this iconic hotel may be best-known for inspiring several scenes in F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous work, The Great Gatsby. Although the author did not identify the Seelbach Hotel by name in the novel, it was here where he spent much of his time as a young soldier on leave. The hotel's interior and its colorful guests, as well as the setting of Tom and Daisy Buchanan's wedding, were drawn from his memories of the Seelbach. Renovated to resemble its former appearance with modern convienences, including larger rooms than was typical for the early 20th century, the hotel retains much of its character and historic grandeur even if it is now part of the Hilton chain. For residents and visitors to Louisville, this architectural masterpiece is one of the city's iconic buildings and one of its leading historic landmarks. The hotel has been frequented by eight U.S. Presidents, leading movie stars, and some of the most infamous gangsters who made their living from the hotel's underground Rathskeller which was full of illicit liquor during the Prohibition. Today, the hotel is now known for a more as a leading destination for conventions, social events, and travelers to the city seeking a genteel atmosphere and Southern hospitality.
The Ronald-Brennan House is the last remaining house in what was once a residential street brimming with similar homes for wealthy Victorian-era families. Built in an Italianate style for tobacco wholesaler Francis Slaughter Jones Ronald in 1868, its architect is unknown, but resembles the designs of local Irish architect Henry Whitestone. The house was purchased by inventor Thomas Brennan in 1884 and remained in the family for seventy-five years. Thomas's son, Dr. J.A.O. Brennan, added a wing to accommodate an in-house medical office in 1912. The house is now the headquarters of Preservation Louisville, and open to the public for special events, particularly during the holiday season.
The Louisville Palace Theater opened in 1928 as Loew's Theater. It features a Spanish Baroque style with arcades, balconies, and turrets. In 1961, the theater was boycotted by Civil Rights activists because of their refusal to admit African Americans. Today, the theater operates as the elaborate setting for live performances, concerts, and summer cinema classics screenings. Painted in bursts of jewel tones, the Palace is heavily ornamented with alcoves, balconies, statues, and busts, and its theater ceiling imitates a starry, cobalt nighttime sky.
In 1923, Louisville was the 34th largest city in America with a population of 235,000. That was the same year that J. Graham Brown opened the Georgian Revival-style hotel, in great anticipation of the local population and newspapers. The Brown Hotel would soon inspire an entire downtown rejuvenation effort that would come to include businesses, movie theaters, a residential community, and a parking garage. An ordinary hotel might not inspire so much rejuvenation, but this was the Brown Hotel, and it was not ordinary in any way, with its very first visitor in the guest register being David Lloyd George, former prime minister of Britain.
The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is an example of public services and innovation that started in the beginning of the 20th century. Opened in 1908, it is the largest public library system in Kentucky. Its main and original building sits at 301 York Street, though other historically significant branches include the "Western Colored Branch" at 604 South Tenth Street--the first Carnegie-housed library built entirely for African-Americans. Today the library includes 17 branches aside from the main library, and tours can be set up at the main site or any of the other branches upon request.
The Temple at 834 South 3rd Street, now a Pentecostal church, was home to Louisville's Adath Israel congregation from 1905-1980. Adath Israel, founded by German/Prussian Jews in 1843, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Kentucky and the five-state region surrounding it. It was also one of the earliest--and second largest--Jewish Reform congregations. The Greek Ionic style Temple was designed by the Louisville architectural firm McDonald and Sheblessy. The building served Adath Israel until 1980, when the Brith Sholom and Adath Israel congregations merged and moved to a new synagogue on the East End.
Presentation Academy, a college-preparatory school established for women in 1831, was created by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and led by Mother Catherine Spalding during its formative years. The academy remains the longest continually-operating school in the city. In 2009, the school completed the construction of a new facility for the arts and athletics, a $5 million addition.
The congregation dates back to 1816, with the establishment of Louisville's First Presbyterian Church. This original congregation gave birth to several different congregations over the years, and also absorbed the members of area churches. For example, a third of the Second Presbyterian Church chose to merge with this congregation when their church joined the Southern Assembly following the Civil War. This church was constructed in several phases beginning in 1909, and replaced a previous structure that was constructed at this location by a smaller congregation that merged with the congregation that became Central Presbyterian. Perhaps the highlight of the facility is the church's fully-restored 1930 E. M. Skinner Pipe Organ, which was made specifically for the Louisville congregation by Boston's Skinner Organ Company.
Fourth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1900 and added to the National Register in 1979.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
This extended walking tour starts at city hall and gradually moves south towards Old Louisville, but stops at St. Catherine Street to give users the option of picking up the "Old Louisville" tour. This tour includes numerous downtown buildings, the location of historic events that shaped the city, and some of the leading downtown churches.
