The Ohio River is a 981-mile-long (1,579 km) river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River, which divides the eastern from western United States. It is also the 6th oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for five million people.
Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city, although by population density, it is the 265th most dense city. Louisville is the historical county seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The falls were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1966.
Kentucky Kingdom, formerly known as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, is an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The 67-acre (27 ha) park includes a collection of amusement rides and the Hurricane Bay water park. Kentucky Kingdom is at the intersection of Interstate 65 and Interstate 264, sharing a parking lot with the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west. As of 2015, the population of downtown Louisville was 4,700, although this does not include directly surrounding areas such as Old Louisville, Butchertown, NuLu, and Phoenix Hill.
The history of Louisville, Kentucky spans nearly two-and-a-half centuries since its founding in the late 18th century. The geology of the Ohio River, with but a single series of rapids midway 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. The town of Louisville, Kentucky was chartered there in 1780. From its early days on the frontier, it quickly grew to be a major trading and distribution center in the mid-19th century and an important industrial city in the early 20th. The city declined in the mid-20th century, but by the late 20th, it was revitalized as a culturally-focused mid-sized American city.
The McAlpine Locks and Dam are a set of locks and a hydroelectric dam at the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. They are located at mile point 606.8, and control a 72.9 miles (117.3 km) long navigation pool. The locks and their associated canal were the first major engineering project on the Ohio River, completed in 1830 as the Louisville and Portland Canal, designed to allow shipping traffic to navigate through the Falls of the Ohio.
Belle of Louisville is a steamboat owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and moored at its downtown wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere during its annual operational period. The steamboat claims itself the "most widely traveled river steamboat in American history." Belle of Louisville's offices are aboard Mayor Andrew Broaddus, and also appears on the list of National Historic Landmarks.
Louisville Waterfront Park is both a non-profit organization and an 85-acre (340,000 m2) public park adjacent to the downtown area of Louisville, Kentucky and the Ohio River. Specifically, it is adjacent to Louisville's wharf and Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, which are situated to the west of the park. Once a wasteland of scrap yards and abandoned industrial buildings, Waterfront Park is now a vibrant green space that welcomes over 2.2 million visitors each year. Located in the park is the Big Four Bridge which connects the city of Louisville with the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana. Waterfront Park is home to some of Louisville's most exciting celebrations, such as the Fourth of July at Waterfront Park, Forecastle Festival, WFPK Waterfront Wednesdays and Thunder Over Louisville. In 2013 the park won the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence a national design award that seeks to identify and honor places that address economic and social concerns in urban design.
George Barry Bingham Sr. was the patriarch of a family that dominated local media in Louisville for several decades in the 20th century.
Caesars Southern Indiana is a casino hotel in Southern Indiana. Opened in 1998, it is owned by Vici Properties and operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, using the Caesars name under license from Caesars Entertainment. It is located outside the community of Elizabeth, Indiana at the Harrison County line, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. This is the closest casino to Louisville because casino gambling is not allowed in neighboring Floyd County. Locals often simply call it "The Boat", a reference to the former riverboat that was the main focus of the complex.
The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge is one of the first multi modal bridges to cross the Ohio River. It is for both railway and common roadway purposes together. Federal, state, and local law state that railway, streetcar, wagon-way, and pedestrian modes of travel were intended by the cites of New Albany and Louisville, the states of Kentucky and Indiana, the United States Congress, and the bridge owners. The K&I Bridge connects Louisville, Kentucky, to New Albany, Indiana. Constructed from 1881 to 1885 by the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company, the original K&I Bridge opened in 1886. It included a single standard gauge track and two wagon ways, allowing wagons and other animal powered vehicles to cross the Ohio River by a method other than ferry for the first time. At that time, motorized vehicles were virtually nonexistent. The K&I Bridge company also owned a ferry boat operation during both the first and second bridge; eventually that operation was sold as the bridge's success largely outmoded boat usage.
Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere is a public area on the Ohio River in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Although proposed as early as 1930, the project did not get off the ground until $13.5 million in funding was secured in 1969 to revitalize the downtown area. On April 27, 1973, the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere was dedicated. Running between Third and Sixth streets, it consisted of a large parking garage and the interstate, and a grassy 7-acre (28,000 m2) park built atop. The grassy park section on the western end was the Belvedere, and the Riverfront Plaza to the east included other attractions: fountains, shelters and an ice-skating rink, as well as buildings such as the Galt House, One Riverfront Plaza and the American Life Building.
The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million. Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery as the disaster occurred during the depths of the Great Depression and a few years after the beginning of the Dust Bowl.
The Louisville Water Tower, located east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, near the riverfront, is the oldest ornamental water tower in the world, having been built before the more famous Chicago Water Tower. Both the actual water tower and its pumping station are a designated National Historic Landmark for their architecture. As with the Fairmount Water Works of Philadelphia, the industrial nature of its pumping station was disguised in the form of a Roman temple complex.
Mayor Andrew Broaddus is a lifesaving station built by the United States Life-Saving Service located in Louisville, Kentucky, off the corner of River Road and Fourth Street. She is named in honor of Andrew Broaddus (1900–1972), a former mayor of Louisville (1953–1957). Her historic purpose was to protect travelers on the Ohio River from the Falls of the Ohio, with rescue crews for those who fell victim to the rapids. Louisville was the first place where a lifesaving station was placed in western waters. The first lifestation in Louisville was in 1881, with Mayor Andrew Broaddus as the third. A National Historic Landmark, she is the only surviving floating lifesaving station of the US Life-Saving Service.
Louisville, Kentucky is home to numerous structures that are noteworthy due to their architectural characteristics or historic associations, the most noteworthy being the Old Louisville neighborhood, the third largest historic preservation district in the United States. The city also boasts the postmodern Humana Building and an expanding Waterfront Park which has served to remove the former industrial appearance of the riverfront.
The Louisville and Portland Canal was a 2-mile (3.2 km) canal bypassing the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. The Falls form the only barrier to navigation between the origin of the Ohio at Pittsburgh and the port of New Orleans near the Gulf of Mexico; circumventing them was long a goal for Pennsylvanian and Cincinnatian merchants. The canal opened in 1830 as the private Louisville and Portland Canal Company but was gradually bought out during the 19th century by the federal government, which had invested heavily in its construction, maintenance, and improvement.
Friendship Fountain is a large fountain in Jacksonville, Florida. It is in St. Johns River Park at the west end of Downtown Jacksonville's Southbank Riverwalk attraction. The world's largest and tallest fountain when it opened, it has been one of Jacksonville's most recognizable and popular attractions.
