13 Facts About Old Louisville

Old Louisville is a historic district and neighborhood in central Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Old Louisville was initially home to some of Louisville's wealthiest residents, but saw a decline in the early and mid-20th century.

Land south of Broadway that became Old Louisville was annexed by the city in 1868, as a part of larger expansion efforts.

Old Louisville is home to the Ferguson Mansion, built by Edwin Hite Ferguson.

The directory even listed the reception days and hours of Old Louisville's leading ladies, which varied by street, such as Tuesdays on Fourth Street or Thursdays on Second.

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Gradual abandonment of Old Louisville by the wealthy was a reflection of changing lifestyles brought on by technology.

Many homes of Old Louisville were originally built as mansions that would require several servants to maintain.

The very term Old Louisville, first becoming associated with the area in the 1940s, had mostly negative connotations initially, as historian Samuel W Thomas put it, "In an Era where architectural styles were changing dramatically, old meant out of fashion".

Old Louisville's boundaries are Kentucky Street to the north, Avery Street to the south, I-65 to the east, the CSX railroad tracks to the west.

Originally, the neighborhood extended all the way to Broadway on the north, Attwood Street on the south, and Floyd Street on the East; but the northern part was mostly razed for parking lots and light industry, the southern area between Attwood and Avery Streets was razed when the University of Old Louisville doubled the size of its main campus, and I-65 was built through the area in the 1960s, which created a physical barrier between it and Shelby Park neighborhood.

Old Louisville is well known for its architecture, with styles ranging from Federal to Queen Anne.

Many styles in Old Louisville are united by their use of red sandstone trim, which became popular by the 1880s to the point that the Courier-Journal said "few new residences are going up in Louisville in which it is not being used".

Old Louisville is broken up into five different census tracts by the US Census Bureau.