Louisville

By Donna M. Neary and James C. Anderson

Book Overview

Concentrating on the early twentieth century, Images of America: Louisville celebrates a dynamic community and the people, both famous and everyday, who have contributed to its lasting legacy.

Since its founding at the Falls of the Ohio by George Rogers Clark in 1778, Louisville and its people have looked to the mighty Ohio River as the city's lifeblood. Louisville has counted on the river for transportation, commerce, leisure, culture, and natural beauty. Characterized by abundant opportunity-both professional and recreational-this renowned city has grown and prospered to become the business and industrial center of Kentucky.

Is Louisville the southernmost midwestern town, or is it an upper south, southern city? This identity crisis has arisen from a historical diversity of people, industries, architecture, and commerce. Louisville has been home to large populations of German, Irish, French, and other immigrants. Large multi-national corporations, such as General Electric, Brown Forman, Philip Morris, and UPS have also called Louisville home over the years. The city counts among its famous sons William Clark, who, with Merriwether Lewis, led the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803, and sports icon Muhammad Ali. Local streets boast modern architectural treasures such as the Humana Building, designed by Michael Graves, and the American Life Building by Mies van der Rohe. Louisville is also home to Churchill Downs and the country's premier equestrian competition, the Kentucky Derby. These and many other notable facets of the city's rich heritage are illuminated in the vintage photographs within this volume.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738513946
• ISBN13: 9780738513942
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful city, beautiful pictures

The Images of America series generally does a good job of representing America's great metropolitan centers, and the Louisville edition is no exception. From Churchill Downs to the (once) bustling downtown to train stations, local architecture, ethnic enclaves and the area's many other sites of interest, Anderson and Neary's work creates a vivid array of imagery as to the "sense" of being a Louisvillian during the first half of the last century. And by capturing Louisville's diversity -its irreproducible blend of Midwest and South, of old and new, of Victorian grandeur and industrial grit - the book presents a pleasing portrayal of this quintessential American city; it should be enjoyable to all with an interest in the history of urban America.