City of Louiseville history

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America at the Falls of the Ohio and Louisville.

All of this reflected the 400% growth in population reported by the 1810 Census.

By 1811 Louisville had become an important frontier and river-flatboat trading place, and its development was further stimulated that year when Captain Nicholas Roosevelt docked the New Orleans, the first successful steamboat to ply the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

However, in 1815, the Enterprise, captained by Henry Miller Shreve became the first steamboat to travel all the way from New Orleans to Louisville, showing the commercial potential of the steamboat.

The city's first library opened its doors in 1816, known as the Louisville Library Company, and started a subscription-based service.

In response to several epidemics, and the increasing need to treat ill or injured river workers, Louisville Marine Hospital was completed in 1825 on Chestnut Street, an area that is today home to Louisville's Medical Centre.

In 1828, the population reached a size of 7,000, and Louisville became an incorporated city, the first in Kentucky.

City status gave Louisville some judicial authority and the ability to collect more taxes, which allowed for the establishment of the state's first public school in 1829.

By 1830, it would surpass Lexington to become the state's largest city.

In 1831, Catherine Spalding moved from Bardstown to Louisville and established Presentation Academy, a Catholic school for girls.

Louisville's famous Galt House hotel — the first of three downtown buildings to have that moniker — was erected in 1834.

In 1839, a precursor to the modern Kentucky Derby was held at Old Louisville's Oakland Race Course.

Also, in a series of events ranging from 1798 to 1846, the University of Louisville was founded from the Jefferson Seminary, Louisville Medical Institute and Louisville Collegiate Institute.

Following the 1850 Census, it was reported that Louisville was the nation's tenth largest city, while Kentucky was reported as the eighth most populous state.

The American Printing House for the Blind (1858), which publishes books in Braille, is located in Louisville, as is the headquarters of the Hillerich & Bradsby Company, makers of the famed Louisville Slugger baseball bats (although most bats are now made elsewhere).

In 1859 the line was reorganized as the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad.

In September 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg decided to take Louisville, but ultimately changed his mind due to lack of backup from General Edmund Kirby Smith's forces and the subsequent decision to install Confederate Governor Richard Hawes in Frankfort.

In the summer of 1863, Confederate cavalry under John Hunt Morgan invaded Kentucky from Tennessee and briefly threatened Louisville before swinging around the city into Indiana during Morgan's Raid.

After 1865 returning Confederate veterans largely took control of the city, leading to the jibe that it joined the Confederacy after the war was over.

The first Kentucky Derby was held on May 17, 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club track (later renamed to Churchill Downs). The Derby was originally shepherded by Meriwether Clark, the grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

On February 2, 1876, Professional Baseball launched the National League, and the Louisville Grays were a charter member of the league.

In the reform-minded progressive era of the 1880's the city was the first in the nation to introduce the secret ballot, significantly reducing vote fraud.

On August 1, 1883, United States President Chester A. Arthur opened the first annual Southern Exposition, a series of World's Fairs that would run for five consecutive years adjacent to Central Park in what is now Old Louisville.

In 1888 they moved the company to Louisville.

Interrupting these developments, on March 27, 1890, a major tornado measuring F4 on the Fujita scale visited Louisville.

When the railroad’s corporate headquarters relocated to New York City in 1891, Quarrier moved there.

In 1893, two Louisville sisters, Patty and Mildred J. Hill, both schoolteachers, wrote the song "Good Morning to All" for their kindergarten class.

Subsequently, in 1895, a Confederate monument was erected near the University of Louisville campus.

In 1897 it reorganized again as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway Company.

She attended high school in Louisiana, and moved to Louisville with her family around 1914.

Doe, formerly creative director for the J. Walter Thompson agency in New York, opened his independent firm in Louisville in 1915.

Two years later, in 1919, Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown, though the term didn't come into use for another eleven years.

6, 1920 was a tragic event for Louisville.

In 1923, the Brown Hotel's chef Fred K. Schmidt introduced the Hot Brown sandwich in the hotel restaurant, consisting of an open-faced "sandwich" of turkey and bacon smothered with cheese and tomato.

She joined the faculty as an undergraduate, then became an Assistant Professor of Economics in 1926, and also served as Assistant Dean of Women.

The Speed Art Museum was opened in 1927 and is now the oldest and largest museum of art in Kentucky.

September 17, 1931 (aged 55) near Louisville Kentucky

He established the Central Drug Company at the corner of Sixth and Walnut (now Muhammad Ali Boulevard) in Louisville with Doctor J.C. McDonald in 1932.

After attending Simmons University and Ohio State he joined the staff of Mammoth Life Insurance Company in 1934.

In 1935 he opened a department store in Lexington.

At the crest on January 27, 1937, the waters reached 30 feet above flood level in Louisville.

The distilleries used Kentucky's existing laws (which favored the mostly rural communities in the state) to form a ½ square mile city named Shively in 1938.

The Louisville Railway Company was renamed the Louisville Transit Company in 1950.

Local members formed the Louisville chapter in 1952.

Created in 1953 with the addition of a manufacturing plant, the company sold aluminum screens, windows, doors, awnings, porch enclosures and siding.

The line changed its name to Monon in 1956.

In 1964, Actors Theatre of Louisville was founded.

Fontaine Ferry Park, Louisville's most popular amusement park during the early 20th century, closed in 1969.

S.A. Griffin Papers, 1971 .25 linear foot S.A. Griffin was a native of Castalian Springs, Summer County, in rural Tennessee.

Douglas Krawczyk Papers, 1978 1.25 linear feet The papers consist of research materials gathered by Krawczyk for his master's thesis, "The City of Louisville and the L & N RR Co." Included are photocopies of laws, charters, railroad annual reports, and excerpts from L & N histories.

On the down side, in the early morning hours of February 13, 1981, sewer explosions ripped through the southern part of Old Louisville and near the University of Louisville.

In communications, The Courier-Journal, Louisville's primary local newspaper, was purchased by media giant Gannett in 1987.

Its 420 foot high spray (later reduced to 375 feet due to energy costs) and fleur-de-lis patterns graced Louisville's waterfront until the fountain was shut down in 1998.

In 2003, the city of Louisville and Jefferson County merged into a single government named Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government.