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The History of Louisville, Kentucky spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the area's unique Geography and location. EARLY HISTORY The first European visitors to the area around the modern city of Louisville could possibly date back to 1170 AD, when Madoc Ap Owain Gwynedd , a legendary Welsh Prince, led an expedition to the west with possibly as many as 10 ships. These early Welsh settlers may have been the builders of a series of stone forts along the riverbanks between Mobile, Alabama and the Louisville area. The native Americans and other prehistoric cultures were not known to build stone structures. Furthermore, there is one known stone fort in southern Indiana across the river that has been dated to this era. Tales from Cherokee and other native American tribes also tell of fair-skinned, Welsh -speaking people that settled in these areas, and members of the Lewis And Clark Expedition heard many of these tales 600 years later. This possibility remains controversial, however. Native American tribes that lived in the area now known as Kentucky included the Shawnee , Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes. COLONIAL ERA The area was first visited by Europeans in 1669 by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle , from France . He explored areas of the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys from the Gulf Of Mexico up to modern-day Canada , claiming much of this land for France . In 1751 , Christopher Gist explored areas along the Ohio River . Following the French And Indian War , France relinquished control of the area of Kentucky to England . In 1769 , Daniel Boone created a trail from North Carolina to Tennessee , and then spent the next two years exploring Kentucky . In 1773 , Captain Thomas Bullitt lead the first exploring party into Jefferson County. In 1774 , James Harrod began constructing Fort Harrod in Kentucky . However, battles with the native American tribes established in the area forced these new settlers to retreat. They returned the following year, as Daniel Boone built the Wilderness Road and established Fort Boonesborough at the site near Boonesborough, Kentucky . The Native Americans allocated a tract of land between the Ohio River and the Cumberland River for the Transylvania Land Company . In 1776 , the colony of Virginia declared the Transylvania Land Company illegal and created the county of Kentucky in Virginia from the land involved. The first settlement was made in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark , who traveled with 150 soldiers and 80 settlers from Redstone, Pennsylvania , down the Ohio River to Corn Island and the Falls Of The Ohio . A month later, Clark took his soldiers to fight British soldiers during the American Revolution . 13 families were left behind and established Fort Nelson on Corn Island, the first permanent settlement at the site of "Louisville". Today, George Rogers Clark is now recognized as the founder of Louisville, and many landmarks are named after him. During much of its early history, the colony of Louisville suffered greatly from Indian attacks. Two years later, in 1780 , the Virginia General Assembly and then- Governor Thomas Jefferson approved the town charter of Louisville on May 1 . The city was named in honor of Louis XVI of France , whose soldiers at the time were aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War . Jefferson County (named after Thomas Jefferson ) was also created at the time with Louisville as the county seat. Also during 1780, 300 families immigrated to the city and Louisville's first fire department was established. The first street plan of Louisville was laid out by Willian Pope at this time. Daniel Broadhead opened Louisville's first general store in 1783 . He became the first to move out of Louisville's early forts. The first courthouse was completed in 1784 , a 16 by 20-foot log cabin, at a cost of $306.79. By this time, Louisville contained 63 clapboard finished houses, 37 partly finished, 22 uncovered houses, and over 100 log cabins. Shippingport , incorporated in 1785 , was a vital part of early Louisville, allowing goods to be transported through the Falls Of The Ohio . The first church was built in 1790 , the first hotel in 1793 , and the first post office in 1795 . From 1784 through 1792 , a series of conventions were held to discuss the separation of Kentucky from Virginia . On June 1 , 1792 , Kentucky became the fifteenth state in the United States and Isaac Shelby was named the first Governor. In 1803 , Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America at the Falls Of The Ohio and Louisville. The Lewis And Clark Expedition would take the explorers across the western U.S., surveying the Louisiana Purchase , and eventually to the Pacific Ocean . In 1815 , the ''Enterprise'' , captained by Henry Miller Shreve reached Louisville from New Orleans . This is the first steamboat to travel all the way from New Orleans to Louisville. The city's first library opened its doors in 1816 , known as the Louisville Library Company , and started a subscription-based service. 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 . CITY DEVELOPMENT The city grew rapidly in its early years. In 1826 , the Louisville And Portland Canal was completed. This allowed the transportation of boat traffic to circumvent the Falls Of The Ohio and travel through from Pittsburgh to New Orleans . In 1828 , the population reached a size of 7,000, and Louisville became an incorporated city. John Bucklin was elected the first Mayor. In 1831 , Catherine Spalding moved from Bardstown to Louisville and established Presentation Academy , a Catholic school for girls. She also established the St. Vincent Orphanage , which was later renamed as St. Joseph Orphanage . Both of these institutions remain in operation to the present time. Louisville's famous Galt House hotel was erected in 1834 . In 1839 , a precursor to the modern Kentucky Derby was held at Old Louisville's Oakland Race Course. Over 10,000 spectators attended the two-horse race, in which ''Grey Eagle'' lost to ''Wagner''. This race occurred 36 years before the first Kentucky Derby . The Kentucky School For The Blind was founded in 1839, the third oldest school for the blind in the country. Following the 1850 census, it was reported that Louisville was the nation's 10th largest city, while Kentucky was reported as the 8th most populous state. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company was founded in 1850 by James Guthrie , who also was involved in the founding of the University Of Louisville , and was completed by 1859 . Louisville's strategic location at the Falls Of The Ohio became central to the city's development and importance in the rail and water freight transportation business. Also this year, Louisvillian Zachary Taylor , a hero of the Mexican War , was elected as the 12th President of the United States . He only served four months in office, however, before dying of Cholera . He is buried in Louisville at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery on Brownsboro Road. Founded in 1858 , the American Printing House For The Blind is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States and since 1879 has been the official supplier of educational materials for blind students in the US. It is located on Frankfort Avenue in the Clifton Neighborhood , adjacent to the campus where the Kentucky School for the Blind moved in 1855 . During the Civil War , Louisville was spared active fighting by the results of the Battle Of Perryville , Kentucky 's bloodiest battle of the Civil War . Prominent Louisvillian James Speed was appointed as the United States Attorney General . While the state of Kentucky officially declared its neutrality during the war, Speed strongly advocated keeping the state in the union. Seeing Louisville's strategic importance in the freight industry, General William Tecumseh Sherman had formed an army base in the city in the event that the Confederacy advanced. On December 17 1862 General Ulysses S. Grant gave an order that all Jews be evicted from the state of Kentucky, due to a perceived illegal trade in Cotton with Confederate forces. There were rallies against the order in many places, including Louisville. President Abraham Lincoln , when informed about the situation, commanded Grant to revoke his order. .]] 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 . 10,000 spectators were present at the first Derby to watch Aristides win the race. On February 2 , 1876 , Professional Baseball launched the National League , and the Louisville Grays were a charter member of the league. While the Grays were a relatively short-lived team, playing for only two years, they began a much longer lasting relationship between the city and baseball. In 1883 , John "Bud" Hillerich made his first baseball bat from white ash in his father's wood shop. The first bat was produced for Pete "The Gladiator" Browning of the Louisville Eclipse (minor league team). The bats eventually become known by the popular name, ''Louisville Slugger'', and the company he started, Hillerich & Bradsby , rapidly became one of the largest manufacturers of baseball bats and other sporting equipment in the world. Today, Hillerich & Bradsby manufactures over one million wooden bats per year, accounting for about 2 of 3 wooden bats sold worldwide. On March 27 , 1890 , Louisville was visited by a major Tornado measuring F4 on the Fujita Scale . It carved a path from the Parkland neighborhood all the way to Crescent Hill , destroying 766 buildings ( $ 3 million worth of property) and killing 78 people. At least 44 of those deaths occurred when the Falls City Hall collapsed. This is one of the highest death tolls due to a single building collapse from a tornado in U.S. history. Train service arrived to the city on September 7 , 1891 with the completion of the Union station train hub. The first train arrived at 7:30 am. At the time, Louisville's Union station was recognized as the largest train station in the South. In 1893 , two Louisville sisters, Patty Hill and Mildred Hill , both schoolteachers, wrote the song "Good Morning to All" for their kindergarten class. The song didn't quite catch on popularly, and the lyrics were later changed to the more recognizable, Happy Birthday To You . This is now the most performed song in the English language. 20TH CENTURY The city gains its character During World War I , Louisville became home to Camp Taylor . In 1917 , the English bred colt "Omar Khayyam" became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Derby. Two years later, in 1919 , Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown , though the term didn't come into use until for another eleven years. 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. The Hot Brown became rather popular among locals and visitors alike, and can be ordered by many local restaurants in the area today. The Waverly Hills Sanatorium was opened in 1926 to house Tuberculosis patients. The hospital was closed in 1961 . It was later used as a retirement home. It was unused for more than a decade until 1991 , when it was reopened for tours. The Belle Of Louisville , today recognized as the oldest river steamboat in operation, came to Louisville in 1931 . That same year, the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes was established to allow black Louisvillians to attend classes. (The college was dissolved into the University Of Louisville with the Ending Of Segregation in 1951 .) In January 1937 , a month of heavy rain throughout the Ohio River Valley prompted what became remembered as the "Great Flood of '37." The Flood submerged about 70 percent of the city and forced the evacuation of 175,000 residents. In Louisville, 90 people died. At the crest on January 27 , 1937, the waters reached 30 feet above flood level in Louisville. Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White documented the flood and its aftermath in a series of famous photos. Later, Levee s were installed to prevent another such disaster. Standiford Field was built in Louisville by the Army Corps Of Engineers in 1941 . Bowman Field , a smaller airport, had been previously opened in 1919 . Otter Creek Park was given to Louisville by the U.S. Government in 1947 , in recognition of the city's service during World War II . Throughout the 20th Century , the arts flourished in Louisville. The Speed Art Museum was opened in 1927 and is now the oldest and largest museum of art in Kentucky. The Louisville Orchestra was founded in 1937 . In 1949 the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival was begun, and today it is the oldest free and independently-operating Shakespeare festival in the United States. The Kentucky Opera was started in 1952 , and the Louisville Ballet was founded that same year, though it only achieved professional status in 1975 . In 1956 the Kentucky Derby Festival was started to celebrate the annual Kentucky Derby . The next year, in 1957 , the St. James Court Art Show was started. Both these are still popular festivals in the region. Decline in mid-century For a variety of reasons, Louisville began to decline as an important city in the 1960s and 1970s . Highways that had been built in the late 1950s facilitated a flight to the Suburb s, and the downtown area began to die out. Many formerly popular buildings became vacant. Even the previously strong Brown Hotel closed its doors in 1971 . Despite this, a number of activities were taking place that presaged the Louisville Renaissance of the 1980s . Southeast Christian Church , today one of the largest Megachurch es in the U.S., was founded in 1962 with only 53 members. In 1964 , Actors Theatre Of Louisville was founded. It was later designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974 . In 1973 , the racehorse Secretariat made the fastest time ever run in the Derby (at its present distance) at 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds. Another major ( F4 ) tornado hit on April 3 , 1974 as part of the Super Outbreak of tornadoes that struck 13 states. It covered 21 miles and destroyed several hundred homes in the Louisville area but was only responsible for 2 deaths. It also caused extensive damage in Cherokee Park . There were signs of revival in the 1970s . Throughout the decade, new buildings came under construction downtown, and many historic buildings were renovated. Louisville's public transportation, Transit Authority Of River City , began operating a bus line in 1974 . And in 1981 the Falls Of The Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area was granted status as a Federal conservation area. Louisville's renaissance From the 1980s until the present day, Louisville has experienced a regrowth in popularity and prosperity. This can be seen in the many changes in this period, including a great deal of downtown infrastructure. Many cultural showcases were founded or expanded in this period. The Kentucky Center was officially dedicated in 1983 . In 1984 the center hosted one of the U.S. Presidential Election Debates between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale . Today the Center hosts many touring plays and performances by the Kentucky Opera and the Louisville Ballet. An IMAX theater was added to the Louisville Science Center in 1988 . Phase I of the Louisville Waterfront Park was completed in 1999 , and Phase II was completed in 2004 . Though originally built as a standard Movie Theater in 1921 , the Kentucky Theater was reopened in 2000 as a performing arts venue. In 1988, the Louisville Falls Fountain , the tallest computerized fountain in the world, began operation on the Ohio River at Louisville. 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. For a single decade Louisville enjoyed this unusual and distinctive landmark on its cityscape. In communications, The Courier-Journal , Louisville's primary local newspaper, was purchased by media giant Gannett in 1987 . The Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), a popular alternative newspaper, was founded in 1990 , and the Snitch Newsweekly was established in the 1990s. Velocity was later released by the Courier-Journal to compete with the LEO in 2003 . In 2003 , the city of Louisville and Jefferson County merged into a single government named ''Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government''. This merger made Louisville the 16th Most Populous City In The U.S. New changes and growth are still evident in the city. The entertainment and retail district called Fourth Street Live! was opened in 2004 , and the Muhammad Ali Center was opened in 2005 . REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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