D. W. Griffith House | |
Location | La Grange, Kentucky |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°24′30″N85°23′2″W / 38.40833°N 85.38389°W Coordinates: 38°24′30″N85°23′2″W / 38.40833°N 85.38389°W |
Built | 1905 |
Part of | Central La Grange Historic District (ID88001316) |
NRHP reference No. | 76000935 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | June 3, 1976 |
Designated CP | September 8, 1988 |
The D. W. Griffith House is a historic building in La Grange, Kentucky in the United States. It was owned by movie director D. W. Griffith, who rose to fame with his movies The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance .
The house was originally constructed in 1905 as a home for a Charles and Sue Smith, but it later became a funeral parlor. Griffith bought it as a residence for his mother Mary in 1913, who lived there until her death a year later. [2] Afterward, Griffith's sister Ruth lived there until she died in 1934; then Griffith's brother and his family lived in the house. After D. W. Griffith married his second wife, they moved to the home in 1936, staying there until 1939 when Griffith went to California to work on a film. Griffith sold the house in 1940, but his niece lived there until 1950, when it was sold once again to be made into apartments. Griffith never returned to the area, not even to receive the honorary doctorate in literature the University of Louisville gave him in 1945. New owners in 1974 returned the house to a more home-like use. [3] [4]
Griffith had always considered La Grange his hometown, having spent his boyhood at a nearby farm until his mother had to sell it for debts left after his father died, and even signed in hotel registers as being from the town, no matter where he was actually living at the time. When Griffith died, as according to his will, his remains were returned to Oldham County and buried eight miles (13 km) south of La Grange in Mount Tabor Cemetery, Centerfield, Kentucky, where his family had a plot. [3] [5]
The house today remains privately owned, but is considered a historic attraction. The current owners have lived there since 1983. Several items related to Griffith furnish the house. At the end of the sidewalk by the house one can still see the signature Griffith made in the concrete. [6]
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located at 4701 Brownsboro Road (US-42), in Louisville, Kentucky. It is named for Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, who is buried there with his wife, Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor. Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 3, 1983. As of 2014, the cemetery has over 14,000 interments and is one of seven national cemeteries in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and one of 112 in the United States. Those buried at the national cemetery served in six wars: Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War.
The geology of the Ohio River, with but a single series of rapids halfway in its length from the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers to its union with the Mississippi, made it inevitable that a town would grow on the site. Louisville, Kentucky was chartered in the late 18th century. From its early days on the frontier, it quickly grew to be a major trading and distribution center in the mid 19th century, important industrial city in the early 20th, declined in the mid 20th century, before revitalizing in the late 20th century as a culturally-focused mid-sized American city.
The Union Station of Louisville, Kentucky is a historic railroad station that serves as offices for the Transit Authority of River City (TARC), as it has since mid-April 1980 after receiving a year-long restoration costing approximately $2 million. It was one of at least five union stations in Kentucky, amongst others located in Lexington, Covington, Paducah and Owensboro. It was one of three stations serving Louisville, the others being Central Station and Southern Railway Station. It superseded previous, smaller, railroad depots located in Louisville, most notably one located at Tenth and Maple in 1868-1869, and another L&N station built in 1858. The station was formally opened on September 7, 1891 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. There was a claim made at the time that it was the largest railroad station in the Southern United States, covering forty acres. The other major station in Louisville was Central Station, serving the Baltimore and Ohio, the Illinois Central and other railroads.
My Old Kentucky Home State Park is a state park located in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States. The park's centerpiece is Federal Hill, a former plantation home owned by United States Senator John Rowan in 1795. During the Rowan family's occupation, the mansion became a meeting place for local politicians and hosted several visiting dignitaries.
Derby pie is a chocolate and walnut open-faced custard pie baked in a (pre-baked) pie shell. The pie was created in the Melrose Inn of Prospect, Kentucky, United States, by George Kern with the help of his parents, Walter and Leaudra. It is often associated with the Kentucky Derby.
Griffytown is a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky located in unincorporated Jefferson County, along Old Harrods Creek Road. Streets within its boundaries include: Bellewood Road, Robert Road, Church Lane, Lincoln Way, Cox Lane, Malcolm Avenue, Plainview Avenue and Booker Road. In 1879, a freed slave named Dan Griffith, an African American, purchased a cabin from Mr. Minor White, an early Middletown settler, and moved it to the land he had been living on along Old Harrods Creek Road, and the neighborhood appears to be named for him. From its beginnings through the mid 70s, Griffytown had a very rural character with primarily small, shotgun-style homes, dirt roads, backyard gardens and small farms. The majority of these houses had no indoor plumbing. During those early years, up until the end of World War II, many of its residents were maids, cooks, butlers, chauffeurs, and gardeners for the wealthy white families of nearby Anchorage and Middletown. The neighborhood was redeveloped in the 1970s through urban renewal and many dilapidated houses were demolished, remaining homes had indoor plumbing and bathrooms installed, and new homes were built on the vacant lots. It remains a predominantly African American community, although a number of families of other races live there as well. The Louisville and Jefferson County African American Heritage Committee placed a historical marker near 401 Old Harrods Creek Road, designating the southwest boundary.
The Zachary Taylor House, also known as Springfield, was the boyhood home of the twelfth President of the United States, Zachary Taylor. Located in what is now a residential area of Louisville, Kentucky, Taylor lived there from 1795 to 1808, held his marriage there in 1810, and returned there periodically the rest of his life.
Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site is located in New Albany, Indiana by the Ohio River. It was the home of William Culbertson, who was once the richest man in Indiana. Built in 1867 at a cost of $120,000, this Second Empire-style mansion has 25-rooms within 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2), and was completed in November 1869. It was designed by James T. Banes, a local architect. Features within the three-story edifice include hand-painted ceilings and walls, frescoed ceilings, carved rosewood-grained staircase, marble fireplaces, wallpaper of fabric-quality, and crystal chandeliers. The original tin roof was imported from Scotland. The displays within the mansion feature the Culbertson family and the restoration of the building. The rooms on the tour are the formal parlors, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchen, and laundry room.
Riverside, The Farnsley–Moremen Landing is a historic 300-acre (120 ha) farm and house in south end Louisville, Kentucky, along the banks of the Ohio River. The house, a red brick I-house with a two-story Greek Revival
John Cox Underwood was an American civil engineer, Confederate veteran, journalist and the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.
The influence of those of French ancestry on Louisville, Kentucky, USA and the surrounding area, especially New Albany, Indiana, is immense. Louisville was even named for a French king, Louis XVI. Before Louisville a French outpost existed called La Belle.
Richard Lee Taylor was an officer in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He was the father of Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, and Joseph Pannell Taylor, who served as a general in the Union Army during the Civil War.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky is one of two state organizations that supervise Masonic lodges in the state of Kentucky. It was established in 1800.
The Rob Morris Home, located in the east end of the Central La Grange Historic District of La Grange, Kentucky on 102 Washington Street, is the historic home of Rob Morris, the second and last poet laureate of Freemasonry and the founder of the Order of the Eastern Star.
The Bardstown Historic District, comprising the center of Bardstown, Kentucky, is a registered historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Prominent architecture located within the district include the Cobblestone Path, Nelson County Jail, Old L & N Station, Old Talbott Tavern, and Spalding Hall, all individually on the National Register, and the historic old Nelson County Courthouse.
The East Market District, colloquially referred to as NuLu, is an unofficial district of Louisville, Kentucky, situated along Market Street between downtown to the west, Butchertown to the north, Phoenix Hill to the south, and Irish Hill to the east. The area is home to schools, churches, large and small businesses and some of the city's oldest homes and businesses. A destination since Louisville's founding, Market Street has played host to a variety of businesses throughout the city's history that have drawn Louisvillians for generations to its addresses.
The Seelbach Hilton is a historic hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach. It opened in 1905 as the Seelbach Hotel, envisioned by the Seelbach Brothers to embody the old-world grandeur of European hotels in cities such as Vienna and Paris. To do so in early 20th century Louisville, they employed a French Renaissance design in constructing the hotel. Louis was already a restaurant owner in Louisville when his brother Otto joined him from Germany around 1890, forming the Seelbach Hotel Co. The company began construction on the hotel in 1903.
Luckett & Farley is an architecture, engineering, and interior design firm based in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1853, making it the oldest continually operating architecture firm in the United States that is not a wholly owned subsidiary. The firm began under the name Rogers, Whitestone & Co., Architects, changing its name to Henry Whitestone in 1857, to D.X. Murphy & Brother in 1890, and to Luckett & Farley in 1962. The company is 100% employee-owned as of January 1, 2012 and concentrates on automotive, industrial, federal government, higher education, health and wellness, and corporate/commercial markets. There are more LEED professionals at Luckett & Farley than any other company in Kentucky with 50, as of December 2012.
Warwick Village is a neighborhood located in Louisville, Kentucky. Warwick Village is just outside the Watterson Expressway and part of the City of St. Matthews, Its boundaries are roughly New La Grange Rd, Washburn Ave, and Columbia Ave. Many of Warwick Village's streets are surrounded by Warwick Park also known as Warwick-Villa Park Playground.