Louisville and Nashville Railroad Office Building

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Louisville and Nashville Railroad Office Building
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Location908 W. Broadway
Louisville, Kentucky
Coordinates 38°14′48″N85°46′02″W / 38.24667°N 85.76722°W / 38.24667; -85.76722
Arealess than one acre
Built1907
ArchitectHaley, J. C. (architect or builder?) Courtenay?
Architectural style Beaux Arts
MPS West Louisville MRA
NRHP reference No. 83002696 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 8, 1983 [1]

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Office Building, at 908 W. Broadway in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, is a historic skyscraper building, built in 1907, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was once the headquarters of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, a prominent railroad company from the mid-19th century to the 1970s.

Contents

Architecture

The structure is eleven stories tall. The first three stories are made of stonework of rusticated ashlar, with capital-topped pilasters in a series. Floors four to ten have ashlar pilasters framing a finish of red brick. Windows of the building are done in series of three. The attic is 1.5 stories tall, and features the distinctive initials of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. [2]

It was designed by W. H. Courtenay, the chief architect of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, in a Beaux Arts style; one of the largest commercial buildings in that architectural style still standing. [3] [4]

In 1930, an eight-bay western addition which duplicated the look of the original 10-bay building was added, built by then-current chief architect of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad J. C. Haley. [5]

History

Aerial view of the L&N freight (left) and passenger (right) stations in the first half of the 20th century, showing the L&N Office Building and Union Station. Louisville aerial.jpg
Aerial view of the L&N freight (left) and passenger (right) stations in the first half of the 20th century, showing the L&N Office Building and Union Station.

The original Louisville and Nashville Railroad offices in Louisville were at Second and Main in Louisville, by the entrance of present-day George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge. By 1890, it had become obvious that the building was too overcrowded. It was decided that the office building should be located next to Louisville's Union Station. Construction began in 1902, but its completion was delayed until January 1907, due to difficulties with organized labor in a 1905 steel workers strike. Its total cost was $650,000. It was large enough that after decades of separation, all of the main administrative staff could be in the same building. [4]

In the 1970s, about 2,000 L&N employees worked in the building. After L&N was purchased by CSX nearly all of the jobs were moved from Louisville to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1980. However, a 6-person CSX claims department stayed in the building until 1988. [6]

Along with many other buildings, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as result of a study of historic resources in West Louisville. [1] [7] [8]

In 1984, the state of Kentucky spent $15 million to purchase and renovate the property, retaining the L&N name and neon lights on its upper stories. [6]

In August 2009, the building was closed due to the 2009 Kentuckiana Flood, but would reopen as soon as deemed safe. [9]

The building is currently the Louisville offices for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. [10]

Related Research Articles

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The Louisville and Nashville Depot, or Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot or Louisville and Nashville Passenger Station, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Passenger Depot or variations, may refer to the following former and active train stations previously used by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Some of these are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paducah Freight House</span> United States historic place

The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway Office and Freight House, simply known as the Paducah Freight House, is a historic railroad freight depot located in the southern portion of downtown Paducah, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (Owensboro, Kentucky)</span> United States historic place

The Union Station in Owensboro, Kentucky, is a historic railroad station, built in 1905. Built mostly for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the station is made of limestone and slate, and currently is home to several businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardstown station</span> United States historic place

The Bardstown station, also known as Old L & N Station, is a historic railroad station on the National Register of Historic Places in the northernmost section of the Bardstown Historic District of Bardstown, Kentucky. Long owned by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), it is currently used as the station for the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, owned by the R.J. Corman Railroad Group.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville station (Illinois)</span> United States historic place

The Louisville and Nashville Depot, located at 101 East Railroad Street in Nashville, Illinois, is the city's former Louisville and Nashville Railroad station. The station was built in 1885 as part of the L&N's expansion through Southern Illinois in the 1880s. The building has a simple vernacular design common to L&N depots in small towns, which were intended to be functional rather than elaborate. The railroad exported the products of Washington County's industries, which included coal, dairy products, grain, and lumber, through the station; it also imported goods such as automobiles, fertilizer, and commercial products. In addition, the railroad provided passenger service to Nashville; at the peak of service, seven daily passenger trains stopped at the depot, and students in other parts of the county used the trains to attend Nashville's high school. The depot also served as an information center for Nashville; the city's telegraph station was located at the depot, and St. Louis daily newspapers arrived by train. The depot remained in service as late as the 1950s but closed sometime prior to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenback Depot</span> United States historic place

The Greenback Depot is a former railroad station located in Greenback, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1914 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), the depot served rail freight and passengers traveling in and out of the Greenback area until 1954. Restored for use as a community events center by Ronald Edmondson in the early 2010s, the depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 in recognition of its role in the area's transportation history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot (Cullman, Alabama)</span> United States historic place

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot is a historic train station in Cullman, Alabama. The depot was built in 1913 as a replacement for Cullman's original station. Cullman's founder, John G. Cullmann, gave money to the city upon his death in 1895 to lower the Louisville and Nashville Railroad tracks through town, in order to reduce noise and pollution. The plan was not enacted until 1911, when the L&N laid double tracks through the town, necessitating the construction of a new depot. The depot served passengers until 1968, and was used for maintenance storage by new owners CSX until it was sold to the city in 1990. It was restored and now houses offices for the local United Way chapter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Pacific Office Building</span> United States historic place

The Northern Pacific Office Building is a three-story historic office building in Tacoma, Washington that served as the headquarters of the Northern Pacific Railway's Tacoma division. Built in 1888, the brick, stucco, stone and cast iron structure stands on a high bluff overlooking the Commencement Bay harbor and extensive railroad switching yards that fan out across the tide flats below at the mouth of the Puyallup River where it flows into Puget Sound. The flats are densely developed with heavy industry that has grown up around the railroad facilities and the Port of Tacoma. The site was originally a choice location across from the Tacoma City Hall and at the north end of Pacific Avenue, the main street through the city's central business district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Evansville, Indiana)</span> United States historic place

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station, also known as L & N Station, was a historic train station located in downtown Evansville, Indiana. It was built in 1902 for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and was a Richardsonian Romanesque style rock-faced limestone building. It consisted of a three-story central block with two-story flanking wings, and a one-story baggage wing. It had projecting gabled pavilions and a slate hipped roof.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ Luhan pg.74, 75
  3. ↑ Luhan, Gregory. Louisville Guide. (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004) pg. 74
  4. 1 2 Klein, Maury. History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. (University Press of Kentucky, 2002). pg.340
  5. ↑ Luhan pg.74
  6. 1 2 Hershberg, Ben (November 5, 1988). "LAST OF L&N WORKERS ARE LEAVING LANDMARK". Courier-Journal. pp. B12.
  7. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Louisville and Nashville Railroad Office Building". National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023. With accompanying pictures
  8. ↑ Marty Poynter Hedgepeth (March 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: West Louisville Multiple Resources Area". National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023. PDF includes Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory forms for numerous individual buildings and includes maps showing historic districts and individual buildings which were listed as result of this study.
  9. ↑ Yetter, Deborah (August 5, 2009). "L&N building offices closed by flooding". The Courier-Journal . Retrieved August 5, 2009.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ "Resource Directory". Resource Education Across Louisville. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
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