The Louisville Hotel on Main Street, between Sixth and Seventh, in Louisville, Kentucky, United States was a major hotel of that city in the 19th and early 20th centuries, originally built in a Greek Revival style from a design by Hugh Roland. [1] The hotel was constructed in 1833, and survived until 1938, with the building enduring as a derelict shell until it was demolished in 1949 to make way for a parking lot. [2]
The original footprint of the building was 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2). [3] The entrance steps led to a rotunda measuring 22 feet (6.7 m) in diameter, [4] which was lit by a skylight, and from which parlors, barrooms, and baggage rooms radiated and were immediately accessible. [3] The main floor hosted small businesses, including a stagecoach depot, a cigar shop, a saloon, clothiers, and a "lottery office." [4] In its heyday the hotel was patronized by "planters, soldiers, military leaders, and theater people," [4] and was admired for its "lustrous black-walnut paneling, cut-glass chandelier, and large oil paintings." [5]
On January 26, 1853, the building caught fire and "before the flames could be arrested the whole front building was destroyed except the lower floor. The loss is estimated at US$10,000(equivalent to $351,760 in 2022)." [6] An 1853 expansion called the "Sixth Street ell" in later years became known as the first Seelbach Hotel. [2] The building originally had 10 Ionic columns that were removed during this remodel. [7] During the course of the renovation, a wall in the older section of the building collapsed, killing a construction worker, and a homeless child (who had apparently been scavenging for firewood). [8] After the completion, in 1856, of the remodel designed by architect Isaiah Rogers [9] (under direction of proprietors Kean, Stedman & Co.) the hotel had expanded from 60 to 220 rooms within five stories. [4]
Circa 1860 the Louisville Hotel had 23 employees who were "hired out" slaves—their wages, in whole or in part, typically accrued to their legal owners. [2] A "grand reception" was held at the Louisville Hotel in September 1866 when Louisville was a stop on U.S. President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle electioneering tour. [10] After a redecoration in 1874, "through the windows immediately behind the statues are seen fine specimen plants of magnolias, oleanders, and myrtles in the court." [11]
The building was hit by the 1890 tornado, which ripped off the roof. [12] Residents of the building next door suffered several casualties. [13] In the late 19th century, declining riverboat traffic led to a decline in the hotel's fortunes. [4] As of 1915, the hotel had 300 guest rooms. [14] The Louisville Hotel was closed to business in 1938, and in 1939 several associated outbuildings were demolished. [4] The Louisville Courier-Journal described the building's condition in 1941: [4]
Boxes and scraps fill the lobby and the famous chandelier is gone, having fallen and been destroyed several years ago, we were told. The thick and rich carpets, over which leading Americans and, later, thousands of traveling salesmen walked as the hotel dropped from a mecca for the elite to a commercial hotel, are badly worn and filled with dust. The famous and valuable art-glass windows, shipped here from Europe years ago, are still in place, but badly worn from years of neglect. The solid brass railing, formerly a picture of beauty, is so thick with dust that it can't be identified.
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.
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 Brown Hotel is a historic 16-story hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., located on the corner of Fourth and Broadway. It contains 294 rooms and over 24,000 ft² of meeting space. It also contains special amenities, such as a fitness center and three restaurants. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Brown Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
TheGalt House Hotel is a 25-story, 1,300-room hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, established in 1972. It is named for a nearby historic hotel erected in 1835 and demolished in 1921. The Galt House is the city's only hotel on the Ohio River.
Isaiah Rogers was an American architect from Massachusetts who eventually moved his practice south, where he was based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed numerous designs for hotels, courthouses and other major buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City, before that relocation.
Bloody Monday was a series of riots on August 6, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky, an election day, when Protestant mobs attacked Irish and German Catholic neighborhoods. These riots grew out of the bitter rivalry between the Democrats and the Nativist Know-Nothing Party. Multiple street fights raged, leaving twenty-two people dead, scores injured, and much property destroyed by fire. Five people were later indicted, but none were convicted, and the victims were not compensated.
Griffytown is a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky established in 1879 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. It has also been known as Griffeytown, and Griffithtown. It has a historical marker presented by African American Heritage Committee, Inc. of Louisville and Jefferson County.
On Thursday, March 27, 1890, a major tornado outbreak struck the Middle Mississippi Valley. To this day, this outbreak is still one of the deadliest tornado events in United States history. At least 24 significant tornadoes, several of which were generated by cyclic supercells, were recorded to have spawned from this system, and at least 187 people were killed by tornadoes that day, including a devastating F4 tornado that struck Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least 115 people and injuring at least 200 others. Five other violent tornadoes occurred elsewhere, including a long-tracked F4 tornado family that crossed two states, killing 21 people and injuring 200, and two other F4s that killed 14 altogether. A pair of F3s near the Tennessee–Kentucky state line may have killed a combined 37 people.
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, also referred to as Louisville Seminary, is a seminary affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is one of ten PC (USA) seminaries, and it identifies as an ecumenical seminary, with recent student enrollment representing many faith traditions.
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.
Kentucky Towers is an historic apartment building located in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA, at 430 W Muhammad Ali Blvd.
The Seelbach Hilton Louisville 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 and is designed in the French Renaissance style. The hotel has hosted numerous celebrities, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, who took inspiration from the Seelbach for a hotel in The Great Gatsby. The hotel is part of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts chain.
Whiskey Row in Louisville, Kentucky refers to an area along Main Street, close to the Ohio River, which was home to the bourbon industry.
Joseph & Joseph is an architectural firm founded in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky. The main services include architectural, engineering and design projects.
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.
Norton Children's Hospital, formerly Kosair Children's Hospital, is a pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Louisville, Kentucky and affiliated with the University of Louisville School of Medicine. The hospital has 300 pediatric beds, providing comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, young adults, age 0-21 throughout Kentucky and the surrounding states. Established in 1892 as Children's Free Hospital, it is part of Norton Healthcare. Norton Children's Hospital also features the region's only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In 2016, actress Jennifer Lawrence, a Louisville native, donated $2 million to the Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville to set up a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) named after her foundation.
William Richardson Belknap, for 28 years was president of the Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company based in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest hardware American manufacturing companies and wholesale hardware companies of its time.
Susan Buckingham Merwin was an American educator, publisher, and superintendent of the Kentucky School for the Blind.
The United States Post Office, Court House, and Custom House was a U.S. federal building in Louisville, Kentucky that served as the seat of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky and its successor, the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, from 1893 to 1932. The five-story courthouse hosted about 100 offices and was located at the northeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets. The building's copper-clad clock tower was an important city landmark of its day. The building was vacated following the New Deal-era construction of what is now known as the Gene Snyder United States Courthouse, and finally demolished during World War II, in a part due to wartime scarcity of metal for industrial uses.
