Postcard Greetings
from Old Louisville
"Central Residence
Section Showing City
Library and Office Buildings
in Background
Louisville, Ky., 1937 Flood"
This view shows the area roughly between First and Fifth Street (left), from Chestnut (Background) to just below York Street. The Louisville Free Public Library is seen in the center of the view, wit Broadway just beyond.
The library suffered major losses to its collections, especially its museum collections which were housed it its basement.
Besides the inundation with water, present neighborhood residents will appreciate a look at the area long before Urban Renewal "improved" it. These blocks were still heavily residential, lined with fine Victorian homes, most of which survived until at least the 1960s. A few of the old mansions can still be seen even along Broadway. About a third of the structures seen here still survive, mainly along 4th Street, as well as the library itself. In other areas large tracts of parking lots are now the norm, dotted with fairly insignificant modern commercial structures.
Enlargement (53 sec @ 56kbps)
Vintage Postcard Views of Louisville
Old Louisville
Second Street
Third Avenue
Fourth Avenue
St James Court
Central Park
The Confederate Monument
Churches
Hotels
Schools
The 1937 FloodLouisville (the rest of the city)
Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby
The Old Court House
City Hall
East to West along Broadway
The Seelbach Hotel
Railroad Stations
Churches
Without extended descriptions:
Fourth Street
The Armory
Hotels
The Old Post Office and Customs House
City Parks
Cemeteries
Miscellaneous
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