Louisville Travel Guide, Kentucky

 Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and considered by many to be the most livable cities in the US for its graceful lifestyle at a somewhat affordable cost of living.

Of course, it is most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby, an exciting horserace but also one of the original American lifestyle events.  Louisville is located near the Kentucky-Indiana border on the Ohio River. The population is just over one quarter of a million content residents, most of whom call their hometown louaville.

Louisville is a bridge between the Northern and the Southern US cultures. Louisville was one of the original settlements of the explorer Col. George Rogers Clark, and dates to around 1803. The city grew as a stopping off point for riverboats to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the Ohio River falls. It perpetrated one of the largest slave trades in the United States prior to the Civil War, a lucrative business that added to the city’s early prosperity. The Civil War saw Louisville as a preeminent bastion of Union forces. Louisville was never attacked and did not experience the post war depression common to many cities. However, the inner city of Louisville did see a decline during the 1960s and 1970s, due to suburbanization and the frequent flooding that comes with being situated in the Ohio River flood plain.

The climate of Louisville is moderate but humid and hot in the summer, with a propensity toward air inversions and polluted air.

 Nevertheless, the city is a delight with a blend of old and new architecture; the Old Louisville neighborhood is the largest historic preservation in the US and is devoted to Victorian homes and buildings.

Adding to the ambiance, nearly one third of all of the bourbon whiskey comes from Louisville, primarily from the Brown-Forman Corporation.

 Of course, the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Derby Festival, are the primary social events in Louisville but the Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival are also important cultural events that draw thousands of visitors from around the world.  

The Kentucky State Fair, a more local draw, is held every August at the Kentucky Exposition Center. In October the St. James Court Art Show assembles thousands of artists who exhibit and sell their work. Located in the West Main District is 'Museum Row'. With the International History Museum, and the Louisville Science Center, the Muhammad Ali Center, and the Speed Art Museum, the largest art museum in Kentucky.