| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth
Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Louisville |
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(l ´ v l) (KEY) , city (1990 pop. 269,063), seat of
Jefferson co., NW Ky., at the Falls of the Ohio; inc. 1780. It is
the largest city in Kentucky, a port of entry, and an important
industrial, financial, marketing, and shipping center for the South
and the Midwest. Whiskey distilling is a traditional industry in the
city, which also produces the famous Louisville Slugger baseball
bats. Other manufactures include motor vehicles; naval ordnance;
wood, paper, and tobacco products; processed foods; and computers
and software. There is also chemical and aluminum processing and
printing and publishing. |
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| A settlement grew after George Rogers Clark built
(1778) a fort as a base of operations against the British and the
Native Americans. The city was chartered by the Virginia legislature
in 1780, when Kentucky was part of Virginia, and named for Louis XVI
of France. Louisville developed as a portage place around the falls
(until a canal was built in 1830) and as a river port and major
commercial center. Many famous steamboats were constructed there.
With the arrival of the railroads in the mid-19th cent., the city
became the terminus of both the southern and midwestern rail lines,
and shipping expanded significantly. During the Civil War it was a
center of pro-Union activity in the state and a military and supply
base for federal forces. |
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| The Univ. of Louisville (est. 1798), Bellarmine College,
Spalding Univ., and two theological seminaries are there, as is
Churchill Downs, a noted racetrack and scene of the annual Kentucky
Derby (first held in 1875). The city has many parks and is the site
of the state fairgrounds. It has a symphony orchestra and an opera
company and hosts an annual festival of new American plays. Among
the points of interest are the American Printing House for the
Blind; the J. B. Speed Art Museum; the Kentucky Center for the Arts;
the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum and cultural-educational center
honoring the boxing champion and native; the Actors Theatre of
Louisville; “Farmington,” a historic home (built 1810); the Filson
Club, with a historical library and museum; the Jefferson County
Courthouse (1850); and Cave Hill Cemetery, where Clark is buried.
Nearby are “Locust Grove,” the last home (1809–18) of Clark, and the
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, the burial place of Zachary Taylor. Fort Knox is
in the area. |
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| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth
Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University
Press. |
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