Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Kentucky borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort and its largest city is Louisville. As of 2020, the population was approximately 4.5 million.
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.
Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio River to the north of Louisville, Kentucky, along I-65. The population was 49,447 at the 2020 census.
Cloverport is a home rule-class city in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, United States, on the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 1,152 at the 2010 census.
Newburg is a former census-designated place in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 20,636 at the 2000 census. On January 6, 2003, the area was annexed to the city of Louisville due to a merger between the city and Jefferson County's unincorporated communities. Newburg is now thought to be a neighborhood within the now merged city of Louisville.
St. Matthews is a city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. It forms part of the Louisville Metro government but is separately incorporated as a home rule-class city. The population was 17,472 at the 2010 census, up from 15,852 at the 2000 census. It is the 23rd-largest city in the state. St. Matthews is one of the state's major shopping areas, home to the fifth-largest mall in Kentucky along with many smaller shopping centers along Shelbyville Road.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) and has three runways. Its IATA airport code, SDF, is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field. Despite being called an international airport, it has no regularly-scheduled international passenger flights, but is a port of entry, handling many UPS Airlines international cargo flights through the United Parcel Service's worldwide air hub, often referred to as UPS Worldport.
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was one of the first city-owned public colleges in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General Assembly to be a "Preeminent Metropolitan Research University". It enrolls students from 118 of 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 U.S. states, and 116 countries around the world.
The 1974 Super Outbreak was the second-largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the 2011 Super Outbreak. It was also the most violent tornado outbreak ever recorded, with 30 F4/F5 tornadoes confirmed. From April 3–4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario. In the United States, tornadoes struck Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and New York. The outbreak caused roughly $843 million USD in damage, with more than $600 million occurring in the United States. The outbreak extensively damaged approximately 900 sq mi (2,331 km2) along a total combined path length of 2,600 mi (4,184 km). At one point, as many as 15 separate tornadoes were occurring simultaneously.
Shawnee is a neighborhood in western Louisville, Kentucky. Its boundaries are the Ohio River on the West, Bank Street and the Portland neighborhood on the North, I-264 on the East, and West Broadway on the South. Maps sometimes identify the area as Shawneeland.
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 Transit Authority of River City (TARC) is the major public transportation provider for Louisville, Kentucky and parts of southern Indiana, including the suburbs of Clark County and Floyd County. TARC is publicly funded and absorbed private mass-transit companies in Louisville, the largest of which was the Louisville Transit Company. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,655,200.
The New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) is the public library of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Succeeding earlier libraries in the city, it opened in 1897. Three branches were added by 1908. Carnegie library branches were added in 1911 and 1915. By 2005 a dozen branches were open. The main library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The government of Louisville, Kentucky, headquartered at Louisville City Hall in Downtown Louisville, is organized under Chapter 67C of the Kentucky Revised Statutes as a First-Class city in the state of Kentucky. Created after the merger of the governments of Louisville, Kentucky and Jefferson County, Kentucky, the city/county government is organized under a mayor-council system. The Mayor is elected to four-year terms and is responsible for the administration of city government. The Louisville Metro Council is a unicameral body consisting of 26 members, each elected from a geographic district, normally for four-year terms. The Mayor is limited to a two consecutive term limit, while members of the Louisville Metro Council are not term limited.
The Crescent Hill Branch Library, constructed in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky, was one of the first of nine Carnegie-endowed libraries built in Louisville, and is a branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. The building has a Beaux-Arts architecture style created by the Thomas & Bohne architect firm. The west side of the library was added in 1961 and the entire library was renovated in 1988. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 for its architectural significance and the educational impact on the community up to 1924.
On August 4, 2009, a flash flood occurred and impacted Louisville and portions of the surrounding Kentuckiana region as a cold front and mesoscale convective system moved across the Midwestern United States. The National Weather Service estimated that between three and six inches of rain fell across the city in less than one hour, breaking all previous one-hour rainfall records in the area. Most of the downtown area was underwater, with the deluge reaching four feet (1.2 m) deep in places.
The Louisville Free Public Library's Western Branch or Western Library is a public library in Louisville, Kentucky. It is a Carnegie library and is the first public library built for African Americans staffed entirely by African Americans. Previously known as Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch, and registered as a historic site in that name, it is a branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Rachel Davis Harris was an American librarian and activist. She was an influential female African American director and children's librarian of the Louisville Free Public Library, Western Colored Branch, one of the first segregated libraries built in the southern United States. She promoted library outreach to youths and equitable access to library services in the black community during the Jim Crow era.
Thomas Fountain Blue was a minister, educator, and civic leader who led the Colored Branches of the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) and was an early trainer of African-American librarians. Blue was the first African-American to head a public library and his efforts led to the Louisville Free Public Library being nationally recognized as a leader in segregated library administration and education for African Americans.
