Louisville History
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louisvillehistory.bsky.social
Louisville History
@louisvillehistory.bsky.social
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A place dedicated to the history, diversity and greatness of America’s crossroads city, #Louisville.
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A winner of 8,803 races (including the 1992 #KentuckyDerby & 8 other #TripleCrown races), #Louisville great Pat Day is the winningest all time rider at #ChurchillDowns and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991. His namesake mile race is held yearly on #Derby Day.
Tennis players compete on the courts at Tyler Park in 1921. The park was built in 1910 and named for former Mayor Henry S. Tyler, who in 1893 was the first #Louisville mayor elected to a 4 year term (previously mayors served 2 year terms). Tyler died in office in 1896, aged 44.
Opening day at Eclipse Park in 1913. Located at 7th & Kentucky Streets, it was the third #Louisville baseball field to be called Eclipse Park (the previous two having burned) and was used by the Colonels from 1902-22, when it too burned after the Male vs DuPont Manual Thanksgiving football game.
The #Louisville #Cardinals, coached by Peck Hickman, were the 1948 NAIA national champions. UofL men’s basketball is the only program to win both the #NAIA & #NCAA titles. This year’s team will become the 43rd UofL squad to participate in the NCAA Tournament, the 5th most appearances of any program.
Although troubled by bad knees that required constant treatment, #Louisville legend Darrell Griffith played 11 seasons for Utah and was the #NBA Rookie of the Year in 1981. His #35 was later retired by the Jazz. His 2,333 points, before the 3 point shot, make him UofL’s all time leading mbb scorer.
Irish rockers #U2 played the classic "New Year's Day" at their then PJCS concert on June 16, 2017. It was the band's first time back in #Louisville since their March 13, 1982 visit to the Louisville Gardens, when they did a 10 song set opening for the J. Geils Band.
How amazing would that be? At least lines from downtown to UofL through Old Louisville and also from downtown up Bardstown Road and up Frankfort Avenue. How much would that improve foot traffic for business all up and down that corridor?
The interior of an early 20th Century #Louisville Railway Company electric street trolley. Until 1889, all local trolleys were pulled by mules. By 1901, the last mule trolley, operating in Crescent Hill, was converted to electric power.
From 1958 to '69, #Louisville hosted 6 NCAA Final Fours, which is still 3rd most of any city. Players like Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson & Jerry West (below) played in Freedom Hall during this time. Peck Hickman, John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith & other legends coached here.
Louisvillians have been getting their onion ring and fried fish fix at Mike Linnig’s on the Ohio River in Southern Jefferson County since 1925. The #Louisville institution is now open for its 100th season.
Company D of the 4th Kentucky Volunteers (#Union Infantry) mustered in #Louisville in October, 1861. Comprised mainly of Jefferson & Warren County men, they would see action in some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War, including #Perryville, #Chickamauga, #Nashville & #Chattanooga.
The great soul singer, Wilson Pickett, who scored hits with "Mustang Sally" and "In the Midnight Hour", was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in #Louisville in 2006. Little Richard gave his eulogy.
Sailing on the Mississippi & Ohio rivers, Mary M. Miller (1846-1894) of Portland, #Louisville became the first woman to receive her river Master's License and become a #steamboat captain in 1884. She was well known for her nautical skill and captained "The Saline" until 1891.
Also, those tee shirts are fire.
Exercise 30 minutes a day. Any type of movement, whether it be walking, running, swimming, etc. Whatever you can do.
Playing as an Independent, the 1951 UofL basketball team, coached by the great Peck Hickman and playing their home games in the Jefferson County Armory (#Louisville Gardens), compiled a record of 19-7 and became the first Cardinals team to be selected for the NCAA Tournament field.
During the great flood of 1937 citizens constructed a 1,800 foot long #bourbon barrel pontoon bridge, extending from East Jefferson Street to Baxter & Barrett Avenues, in what has to be the most #Louisville style engineering feat in history.
It wasn’t really a Super Bowl, but the #ABA champion Kentucky Colonels did play the #NBA champion #Warriors in a preseason matchup in #Louisville on 10/8/75, with the Colonels winning 93-90. HOFer Hubie Brown (broadcasting his last game today) called the ‘75 Colonels the best team he ever coached.
The Jefferson County Armory (later known as the #Louisville Gardens) was built in 1905. It was the home of UofL basketball from 1945-58 (crowd picture below from 1948), with the Cardinals going 153-23 in its confines. The #ABA Colonels also played home games there from 1967-70.
Advertising 40¢ draft beers on Weds & Thurs and $3.00 all you could drink Weds in 1982, #Tewligans on Bardstown Road was the #Louisville Mecca for live punk & alternative bands from 1980-96. National acts who played there included #REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers & Smashing Pumpkins.
The Kentucky School for the Blind, (as it stood in 1934) was founded by Bruce McLellan Patten in 1839 and has been located in the #Clifton neighborhood of #Louisville from 1855. Since then it has educated thousands of visually impaired students from the USA and around the world.
Located just off the #UofL campus on 3rd & Avery (Now #Cardinal Blvd), the Hollywood Steak House was a gathering place for residents of Old #Louisville in the '50s. Owned by the Masterson family, it was refurbished in 1962 and became Masterson's Steak House until it closed in 2010.
Check's Cafe, on Burnett Avenue in Germantown, has been yelling out customer orders to #Louisville patrons since 1944. Prior to then, the building was an A&P market.
The art of #barrel making, practiced by "coopers" (below in 1945 and 1951), has been a constant in #Louisville since the founding of the city in 1778. Currently, Brown-Foreman Corporation runs the largest cooperage in Louisville, producing over 2,500 whiskey barrels per day.
#Bourbon
"Cuscaden's Happyland" ice cream sat at 1904 Frankfort Ave in the Clifton Neighborhood of #Louisville in 1927. Their slogan, on the sign above the store, stating "Quality Ice Cream. It's a food.", stands the test of time. A streetcar on the Clifton loop passes behind the shop.