Louisville, Kentucky#See also

The correct pronunciation of the name of Louisville is heatedly debated.{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Kirby |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/2017/06/07/louisville-one-top-cities-americans-mispronounce/371475001/ |title=Do you say it right? Louisville is one of the top cities Americans mispronounce |date=June 7, 2017 |work=The Courier-Journal |access-date=December 8, 2023}} The three most popular pronunciations are, in order:

1. {{IPAc-en|audio=Loouhvull.ogg|ˈ|l|uː|ə|v|əl}} {{respell|LOO|ə|vəl}},
2. {{IPAc-en|audio=Looeevil.ogg|ˈ|l|uː|i|v|ɪ|l}} {{respell|LOO|ee|vil}}, and
3. {{IPAc-en|audio=Luhvull.ogg|ˈ|l|ʊ|v|əl}} {{respell|LUUV|əl}}.

All three are generally considered acceptable; the Louisville Visitor Center says that only the rare {{IPAc-en|audio=Lewisville.ogg|ˈ|l|uː|ɪ|s|v|ɪ|l}} {{respell|LOO|iss|vil}} is completely unacceptable (though it is the correct pronunciation for the name of the much smaller Louisville, Colorado). There are also acceptable hybrid ways of saying the name, such as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|uː|ə|v|ɪ|l}} {{respell|LOO|ə|vil}}, a mixture of the first and second pronunciations.{{cite news |url=https://www.wdrb.com/news/how-to-properly-pronounce-louisville/article_6e41f577-c87e-5599-801a-edc28e410c15.html |title=How to properly pronounce "Louisville" |date=June 21, 2014 |publisher=WDRB |access-date=December 8, 2023 |archive-date=December 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208044723/https://www.wdrb.com/news/how-to-properly-pronounce-louisville/article_6e41f577-c87e-5599-801a-edc28e410c15.html |url-status=live }}

The dominant local pronunciation, the {{respell|LOO|ə|vəl}} pronunciation is widely practiced and accepted.{{cite web |url=https://www.movoto.com/guide/louisville-ky/things-only-people-from-louisville-understand/ |title=10 Things Only People from Louisville Will Understand |website=movoto.com |access-date=December 8, 2023}} Some even refer to it as the "only" correct way to pronounce the name of the city.{{cite news |last=Puente |first=Victor |title=Good Question: What is the right way to pronounce Louisville? |publisher=WKYT |date=August 2, 2023 |url=https://www.wkyt.com/2023/08/02/good-question-what-is-right-way-pronounce-louisville/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802212255/https://www.wkyt.com/2023/08/02/good-question-what-is-right-way-pronounce-louisville/ |url-status=live }} {{respell|LOO|ee|vil}}, while respecting the proper pronunciation of the name of the French king who gave Louisville its name, is significantly less common among locals. It is, however, frequently used by those not from the area. In 2001, local journalist and historian George H. Yater noted that older natives tended toward the second pronunciation, and that both the first and second pronunciations were used equally in local radio and television broadcasting; however, new personalities were taught that the first one was "correct".{{cite book |last=Yater |first=George H. |editor-first=John E. |editor-last=Kleber |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |chapter=Louisville Pronunciation |pages=568–569 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-2100-0 |oclc=247857447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313151808/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |url-status=live }}

{{respell|LUUV|əl}} is a less common, particularly rural way of saying the name. While it is considered acceptable, it is not as widely heard as the others.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

{{Main|History of Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{For timeline}}

{{Broader|History of Kentucky}}

{{See also|National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Kentucky}}

The history of Louisville spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the area's geography and proximity to the Falls of the Ohio River.

File:George Rogers Clark.jpg founded Louisville in the midst of the Revolutionary War.]]

Since the Falls created a barrier to river travel, settlements grew at this portage point. The first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of Louisville. Several landmarks in the community are named after him.{{cite web|title=George Rogers Clark: Kentucky Frontiersman, Hero, and Founder of Louisville|publisher=Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives|url=http://www.kdla.ky.gov/resources/kygrclark.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425213827/http://www.kdla.ky.gov/resources/KYGRClark.htm|archive-date=April 25, 2007|access-date=July 19, 2007}}

Two years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, whose soldiers were then aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War. Early residents lived in forts to protect themselves from raids from the local indigenous population, but they moved out by the late 1780s.{{cite book |title=Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County |last=Yater |first=George H. |year=1987 |publisher=Filson Club, Incorporated |location=Louisville, Kentucky |edition=2nd |pages=9–10 |isbn = 978-0-9601072-3-0}} In 1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America in the town of Clarksville, Indiana at the present-day Falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville, Kentucky.{{cite web|title=The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition|url=http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/read/?_xmlsrc=introduction.general.xml&_xslsrc=LCstyles.xsl|access-date=July 30, 2009|archive-date=May 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517182106/http://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/read/?_xmlsrc=introduction.general.xml&_xslsrc=LCstyles.xsl|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Lewis and Clark—Falls of the Ohio|url=http://www.in.gov/dnr/lewis-clark/falls/|access-date=July 30, 2009|archive-date=February 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217165128/http://www.in.gov/dnr/lewis-clark/falls/|url-status=dead}}

{{clear|left}}

{{See also|Louisville in the American Civil War}}

File:Louisville 1846.jpg

The city's early growth was influenced by the fact that river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had grown to 7,000 and Louisville became an incorporated city.Yater, pp. 46–48.

Early Louisville was a major shipping port and enslaved African Americans worked in a variety of associated trades.{{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Mary Lawrence Bickett |editor-first=John E. |editor-last=Kleber |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |chapter=Slavery in Louisville 1820–1860 |pages=825–826 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-2100-0 |oclc=247857447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313151808/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |url-status=live }} The city was often a point of escape for fugitive slaves to the north, as Indiana was a free state.{{cite web |last=Hudson |first=J. Blaine |url=http://www.ket.org/underground/research/crossing.htm |title=Crossing The "Dark Line": Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in Louisville and North Central Kentucky (excerpt) |website=KET – Kentucky's Underground Railroad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212015127/http://www.ket.org/underground/research/crossing.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2013 |access-date=June 20, 2024}}

During this point in the 1850s, the city was growing and vibrant, but that also came with negativity. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting, and transportation for numerous campaigns, especially in the Western Theater. Ethnic tensions rose, and on August 6, 1855, known as "Bloody Monday", Protestant mobs attacked German and Irish Catholic neighborhoods on election day, resulting in 22 deaths and widespread property damage.{{Cite web |title=Bloody Monday Memorial |url=https://www.louisvilleirish.com/bloody-monday-memorial/ |access-date=September 9, 2022 |website=Ancient Order of Hibernians|archive-date=September 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909105328/https://www.louisvilleirish.com/bloody-monday-memorial/ |url-status=live }} Then by 1861, the civil war had broken out. During the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. By the end of the war, the city of Louisville itself had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby. After the war, returning Confederate veterans largely took political control of the city, leading to the jibe that Louisville joined the Confederacy after the war was over.{{cite news |last1=Proffitt |first1=Doug |last2=Randall |first2=Blake |url=https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/louisvilles-twisted-civil-war-story-the-confederate-statue/417-205707592 |title=Louisville's twisted Civil War story & the Confederate statue |date=August 14, 2017 |work=WHAS11 |access-date=June 20, 2024 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811100713/https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/louisvilles-twisted-civil-war-story-the-confederate-statue/417-205707592 |url-status=live }}

File:Churchill Downs 1901.jpg in 1901]]

The first Kentucky Derby was held on May 17, 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club track (later renamed Churchill Downs).{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchilldowns.com/visit/about/churchill-downs/history/|title=History of Churchill Downs {{!}} {{!}} Churchill Downs Racetrack {{!}} Home of the Kentucky Derby|website=churchilldowns.com|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324005237/https://www.churchilldowns.com/visit/about/churchill-downs/history/|url-status=live}} The Derby was originally shepherded by Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., the grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and grandnephew of the city's founder George Rogers Clark. Horse racing had a strong tradition in Kentucky, whose Inner Bluegrass Region had been a center of breeding high-quality livestock throughout the 19th century. Ten thousand spectators watched the first Derby, which Aristides won.{{cite web|title=Kentucky Derby Timeline: 1874–1899 |url=http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/history/timeline/1874-1899 |access-date=July 30, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410204842/http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/history/timeline/1874-1899 |archive-date=April 10, 2009 |url-status=live }}

On March 27, 1890, the city was devastated and its downtown nearly destroyed when what scientists now estimate was an F4 tornado tore through as part of the middle Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak. It is estimated that between 74 and 120 people were killed and 200 were injured. The damage cost the city $2.5 million{{Cite web|url=https://www.weather.gov/lmk/tornado_climatology_march271890|title=Tornadoes of March 27, 1890|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|website=weather.gov|access-date=March 24, 2019|archive-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324005235/https://www.weather.gov/lmk/tornado_climatology_march271890|url-status=live}} (equivalent to $69 million in 2019).{{Cite web|url=http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1890?amount=2500000|title=$2,500,000 in 1890 → 2019 {{!}} Inflation Calculator|website=in2013dollars.com|access-date=March 24, 2019|archive-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324005237/http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1890%3Famount%3D2500000|url-status=live}} Established in 1896, Neighborhood House Louisville was the first settlement movement house in the state.{{cite web |title=Welcome to Neighborhood House |url=https://www.nhky.org/ |website=nhky.org |access-date=April 27, 2022 |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525225007/https://www.nhky.org/ |url-status=live }}

Following the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, freed slaves settled in a neighborhood of Louisville called Little Africa, nicknamed "the gateway to the South", near the present neighborhood of Park DuValle.{{Cite web|date=February 14, 2021|title=What happened to Little Africa? Louisville's lost Black community|url=https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/black-history/louisvilles-lost-black-community-little-africa/417-c72f3e6a-698c-4a63-80a1-cabfd6336b93|access-date=October 15, 2021|website=whas11.com|archive-date=October 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016144403/https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/black-history/louisvilles-lost-black-community-little-africa/417-c72f3e6a-698c-4a63-80a1-cabfd6336b93|url-status=live}} The neighborhood was described as a "thriving community" by the 1920s, and declined between the 1940s and 1950s.

In 1914, the city of Louisville passed a racially based residential zoning code, following Baltimore, Atlanta, and a handful of cities in the Carolinas.{{cite journal|title=Residential Segregation by Law, 1910–1917|first=Roger L.|last= Rice|journal=The Journal of Southern History|volume=34|issue=2|date=May 1968|pages=181–183|doi=10.2307/2204656|jstor=2204656}} The NAACP challenged the ordinance in two cases. Two weeks after the ordinance enacted, an African-American named Arthur Harris moved into a house on a block designated for whites. He was prosecuted and found guilty. The second case was planned to create a test case. William Warley, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, tendered a purchase offer on a white block from Charles Buchanan, a white real estate agent. Warley also wrote a letter declaring his intention to build a house on that lot and reside there. With the understanding that the Louisville ordinance made it illegal for him to live there, Warley withheld payment, setting in motion a breach of contract suit by Buchanan.Rice (1968), pp. 185–186. By 1917 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Buchanan v. Warley. The court struck down the Louisville residential segregation ordinance, ruling that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.Rice (1968), p. 194.

In 1917, shortly after the United States' entry into World War I, Louisville was selected as the site of Camp Zachary Taylor. Camp Taylor was one of the country's largest World War I training camps. It was home of the 84th Infantry Division and trained over 150,000 men by the end of war, including F. Scott Fitzgerald. The camp was closed in 1921. Many of the buildings and infrastructure in the Camp Taylor neighborhood of Louisville are there as a result of the training camp.

In 1929, Louisville completed the lock and dam in the Falls of the Ohio and the city began referring to itself as "where Northern enterprise and Southern hospitality meet". Between the industrial boom of that year and through the Great Depression, Louisville gained 15,000 new residents, about 3% of them black, most fleeing poverty in rural areas.{{Cite journal|last=Adams|first=Luther J.|date=Autumn 2001|title=African American Migration to Louisville in the Mid-Twentieth Century|journal=The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society|volume=99|issue=4|pages=363–384|jstor=23384797}}

Throughout January 1937, {{convert|19.17|in|cm}} of rain fell in Louisville, and by January 27, the Ohio River crested at a record {{convert|57.15|ft|m}}, almost {{convert|30|ft|m}} above flood stage. These events triggered the "Great Flood of 1937", which lasted into early February. The flood submerged 60–70 percent of the city, caused complete loss of power for four days, and forced the evacuation of 175,000 or 230,000 residents, depending on sources. Ninety people died as a result of the flood.{{cite book |last=Purcell |first=Aaron D. |editor-first=John E. |editor-last=Kleber |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |chapter=Flood of 1937 |pages=296–297 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2100-0 |oclc=247857447 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC&pg=PA296 |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106012909/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC&pg=PA296#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = http://kyclim.wku.edu/factSheets/ohioRiver.htm |title=Fact Sheet: Ohio River Floods |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080604134934/http://kyclim.wku.edu/factSheets/ohioRiver.htm |publisher=Western Kentucky University |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |access-date=August 10, 2015 }} It led to dramatic changes in where residents lived. Today, the city is protected by numerous flood walls. After the flood, the areas of high elevation in the eastern part of the city had decades of residential growth.

Louisville was a center for factory war production during World War II. In May 1942, the U.S. government assigned the Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Company, a war plant located at Louisville's air field, for wartime aircraft production. The factory produced the C-46 Commando cargo plane, among other aircraft. In 1946, the factory was sold to International Harvester, which began large-scale production of tractors and agricultural equipment. In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Louisville's population as 84.3% white and 15.6% black.{{cite web|title=Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012 }}

Throughout the 1940s, there were more black police officers than any other Southern city, though they were allowed to patrol only black districts. This, in part, made Louisville seem like a more racially progressive city than other Southern cities, although only when black citizens accepted a lower status than white citizens. Many historians have referred to this "veil" of segregation as a "polite" racism. Historian George Wright stated that polite racism "often deluded both blacks and well-meaning whites into believing that real progress was being made in their city". For example, in the city Jim Crow practices were not maintained by law so much as by custom.

Similar to many other older American cities, Louisville began to experience a movement of people and businesses to the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s. Middle class residents used newly built freeways and interstate highways to commute to work, moving into more distant but newer housing. Because of tax laws, businesses found it cheaper to build new rather than renovate older buildings. Economic changes included a decline in local manufacturing. The West End and older areas of the South End, in particular, began to decline economically as many local factories closed.

File:Louisville Fourthstreetlive.jpg]]

In 1974, a major (F4) tornado hit Louisville as part of the 1974 Super Outbreak of tornadoes that struck 13 states. It covered {{convert|21|mi|km}} and destroyed several hundred homes in the Louisville area, causing two deaths.{{cite book|title=Tornado: A Look Back at Louisville's Dark Day, April 3, 1974|url=http://www.butlerbooks.com/tolobaatloda.html|year=2004|editor=Butler, William S.|publisher=Butler Books|access-date=April 21, 2009|isbn=978-1-884532-58-0|archive-date=May 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506025415/http://www.butlerbooks.com/tolobaatloda.html|url-status=live}}

Since the 1980s, many of the city's urban neighborhoods have been revitalized into areas popular with young professionals and college students. The greatest change has occurred along the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue and Frankfort Avenue corridors as well as the Old Louisville neighborhood. In recent years, such change has also occurred in the East Market District (NuLu).{{Cite web|url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/louisville-city-living/2019/07/10/louisville-neighborhoods-nulu-packed-dining-shopping/1621854001/|title=A Day in the Neighborhood: Headed to NuLu? I hope you're hungry (and thirsty)|last=Menderski|first=Maggie|website=The Courier-Journal|access-date=October 24, 2019|archive-date=November 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106012909/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/louisville-city-living/2019/07/10/louisville-neighborhoods-nulu-packed-dining-shopping/1621854001/|url-status=live}}

Since the late 1990s, Downtown has experienced significant residential, tourist and retail growth, including the addition of major sports complexes KFC Yum! Center, Lynn Family Stadium and Louisville Slugger Field, conversion of waterfront industrial sites into Waterfront Park, openings of varied museums (see Museums, galleries and interpretive centers below), and the refurbishing of the former Galleria into the bustling entertainment complex Fourth Street Live!, which opened in 2004.

On March 13, 2020, four plainclothed officers from Louisville Metro Police Department executed a "no-knock" search warrant which led to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman.{{Cite news|last=Oppel|first=Richard A. Jr. |date=May 30, 2020|title=Here's What You Need to Know About Breonna Taylor's Death|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html|url-status=live|access-date=June 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601003544/https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html|archive-date=June 1, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} (From the [https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html Internet Archive index] for the page, compare captures for August 30, 2020, and September 2, 2020, to see the change in coverage concerning the warrant.) For months afterward, Taylor's family, members of the local community, and people around the world protested to demand that officers involved in the shooting be fired and criminally charged.{{Cite news |first1=Ray |last1=Sanchez |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Joseph |date=June 19, 2020 |title=Louisville, Kentucky, seeks to fire police officer in shooting of Breonna Taylor |publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/us/breonna-taylor-shooting-officer-firing/index.html |access-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-date=December 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229011459/https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/us/breonna-taylor-shooting-officer-firing/index.html |url-status=live }} These protests and demonstrations coincided and intertwined with the international George Floyd protests, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement and a broader movement of racial unrest.{{Cite web |last1=Waldrop |first2=Evan |last2=McMorris-Santoro |first3=Kevin |last3=Brunelli |first1=Theresa |date=June 1, 2020 |title=Louisville fires its police chief over handling of fatal shooting during protest |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/louisville-protests-man-shot-dead/index.html |access-date=September 28, 2022 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=June 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602000507/https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/louisville-protests-man-shot-dead/index.html |url-status=live }} As a result of the incident, the police chief was fired and four officers received federal charges, but no significant systemic changes were made.{{Cite news|last1=Costello|first1=Darcy|title=Louisville police is firing officer Brett Hankison involved in Breonna Taylor shooting|newspaper=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/19/breonna-taylor-shooting-louisville-police-fire-officer-brett-hankison/3222169001/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620052807/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/19/breonna-taylor-shooting-louisville-police-fire-officer-brett-hankison/3222169001/ |date=June 19, 2020 |archive-date=June 20, 2020|issn=0734-7456}}{{Cite web |first1=Eliott C. |last1=McLaughlin |first2=Sonia |last2=Moghe |first3=Hannah |last3=Rabinowitz |date=August 4, 2022 |title=Four current, former Louisville police officers federally charged in Breonna Taylor's death |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/breonna-taylor-federal-charges/index.html |access-date=September 28, 2022 |publisher=CNN|archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804153621/https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/us/breonna-taylor-federal-charges/index.html |url-status=live }}

On April 10, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at the Old National Bank, killing five people, and injuring nine others. The suspect, who was a bank employee and who officials said was livestreaming the rampage, was killed by the police after exchanging fire with them.{{Cite web |title=Louisville shooting live updates: 4 victims killed inside bank, 9 injured |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/active-shooter-louisville/?id=98470141 |access-date=April 10, 2023 |publisher=ABC News|location=United States|archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410142648/https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/active-shooter-louisville/?id=98470141 |url-status=live }}

==Geography==

{{Main|Geography of Louisville, Kentucky}}

File:SouLouIq2.jpg

Louisville and Jefferson County have a combined area of {{convert|397.68|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|380.46|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|17.23|sqmi|km2}} (4.33%) is covered by water.{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2015_Gazetteer/2015_gaz_counties_21.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 26, 2016|year=2015|title=U.S. Gazetteer file for Kentucky counties (Jefferson County)|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208073535/http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2015_Gazetteer/2015_gaz_counties_21.txt|url-status=live}}

Louisville is southeasterly situated along the border between Kentucky and Indiana, the Ohio River, in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio. Louisville is an Upper South city located in a Southern state that is influenced by both Southern and Midwestern culture. It is sometimes referred to as either one of the northernmost Southern cities or as one of the southernmost Northern cities in the United States.{{cite journal |last=Meyer |first=David R. |date=December 1989 |title=Midwestern Industrialization and the American Manufacturing Belt in the Nineteenth Century |journal=The Journal of Economic History |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=921–937 |jstor=2122744 |doi=10.1017/S0022050700009505 |s2cid=154436086 }}{{cite web |url = http://www.emporis.com/city/louisville-ky-usa |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120604051110/http://www.emporis.com/city/louisville-ky-usa |url-status = dead |archive-date = June 4, 2012 |title=Emporis:Louisville, KY |access-date=February 6, 2007}}

Louisville is located in Kentucky's outer Bluegrass region.{{cite web |title=University of Kentucky Atlas entry |url=http://www.kyatlas.com/phys-bluegrass.html |access-date=August 22, 2009 |archive-date=October 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023002014/http://www.kyatlas.com/phys-bluegrass.html |url-status=live }} Its development has been influenced by its location on the Ohio River, which spurred Louisville's growth from an isolated camp site into a major shipping port. Much of the city is located on a very wide and flat floodplain surrounded by hill country on all sides. Much of the area was swampland that had to be drained as the city grew. In the 1840s, most creeks were rerouted or placed in canals to prevent flooding and disease outbreaks.

Areas generally east of I-65 are above the flood plain, and are composed of gently rolling hills. The southernmost parts of Jefferson County are in the scenic and largely undeveloped Knobs region, which is home to Jefferson Memorial Forest.

The Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 43rd largest in the United States,{{efn|name=MSAnote}} includes the Kentucky county of Jefferson (coterminous with Louisville Metro), plus twelve outlying counties—seven in Kentucky and five in Southern Indiana. Louisville's MSA is included in the Louisville–Elizabethtown–Madison, KY–IN Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which also includes the Elizabethtown, KY MSA, as well as the Madison, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The Louisville area is near several other urban areas, especially Frankfort, Kentucky (the state's capital); Cincinnati, Ohio (the two cities' metropolitan statistical areas almost border each other); Lexington, Kentucky; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; and the Indianapolis, Indiana area (especially Columbus, Indiana, to the north of Southern Indiana).

{{Main|Cityscape of Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|Downtown Louisville|Neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky|List of parks in the Louisville metropolitan area|List of tallest buildings in Louisville}}

File:Highlands.jpg, specifically the Bonnycastle neighborhood]]

The downtown business district of Louisville is located immediately south of the Ohio River and southeast of the Falls of the Ohio. Major roads extend outwards from the downtown area in all directions. The airport is about {{convert|6.75|mi|km}} south of the downtown area. The industrial sections of town are to the south and west of the airport, while most of the residential areas of the city are to the southwest, south, and east of downtown. In 2010, the 22,000-seat KFC Yum! Center was completed.{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1728957251.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+22%2C+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Hotel+removed+from+arena+plan |title=Hotel removed from arena plan |author=Green, Marcus |date=May 22, 2007 |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |access-date=July 6, 2017 |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107203113/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1728957251.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+22,+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Hotel+removed+from+arena+plan |url-status=dead }}{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1730873931.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+24%2C+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=First+look+inside+the+arena | title=First look inside the arena | author=Green, Marcus | date=April 27, 2007 | newspaper=The Courier-Journal | access-date=July 6, 2017 | archive-date=November 7, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107203124/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1730873931.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+24,+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=First+look+inside+the+arena | url-status=dead }} Twelve of the 15 buildings in Kentucky over {{convert|300|ft|m}} are located in downtown Louisville.

Another primary business and industrial district is located in the suburban area east of the city on Hurstbourne Parkway.{{cite news |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |title=Office space goes begging |date=February 26, 2006 |last=Berzof |first=Ken}}

Louisville's late 19th- and early 20th-century development was spurred by three large suburban parks built at the edges of the city in 1890.

The city's architecture contains a blend of old and new. The Old Louisville neighborhood is the largest historic preservation district solely featuring Victorian homes and buildings in the United States;{{cite web |title=Louisville Facts & Firsts |publisher=LouisvilleKy.gov |url=http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Visitors/Louisville+Facts+and+Firsts.htm |access-date=December 14, 2009 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006110825/http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Visitors/Louisville%2BFacts%2Band%2BFirsts.htm |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.oldlouisville.com/old_louisville.htm |access-date=December 14, 2009 |title=What is Old Louisville? |publisher=Old Louisville Guide |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127214207/http://www.oldlouisville.com/old_louisville.htm |archive-date=November 27, 2009 }} it is also the third-largest district containing such architectural distinctions in the United States. Many modern skyscrapers are located downtown, as well as older preserved structures, such as the Southern National Bank building. The buildings of West Main Street in downtown Louisville have the largest collection of cast iron facades of anywhere outside of New York's SoHo neighborhood.{{cite web|url=http://www.louisvilleky.gov/DowntownDevelopment/News/2006/DowntownActivity.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103233/http://www.louisvilleky.gov/DowntownDevelopment/News/2006/DowntownActivity.htm|archive-date=September 29, 2007 |title=Louisville's Downtown Alive with Development |publisher=LouisvilleKy.gov |date=February 24, 2006 |access-date=July 28, 2009}}

File:Werne's Row 4th and Hill, Old Louisville.jpg in Old Louisville]]

File:Broadway3rdLou.jpg]]

Since the mid-20th century, Louisville has in some ways been divided into three sides of town: the West End, the South End, and the East End. In 2003, Bill Dakan, a University of Louisville geography professor, said that the West End, west of 7th Street and north of Algonquin Parkway, is "a euphemism for the African American part of town" although he points out that this belief is not entirely true, and most African Americans no longer live in areas where more than 80% of residents are black. Nevertheless, he says the perception is still strong.{{cite news |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |title=Will old names work in 'new' city? |last=Pike |first=Bill |page=1N |date=January 23, 2003}} The South End has long had a reputation as a white, working-class part of town, while the East End has been seen as middle and upper class.{{cite news |title=Read all about it: Valley has city united |author=Forde, Pat |date=August 26, 2002 |newspaper=The Courier-Journal}}

According to the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors, the area with the lowest median home sales price is west of Interstate 65, in the West and South Ends. The middle range of home sales prices are between Interstates 64 and 65 in the South and East Ends, and the highest median home sales price are north of Interstate 64 in the East End.{{cite web |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1727307131.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Jun+29,+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.2&desc=Clarification |title=The Courier-Journal 2006–07 Kentuckiana Guide |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=August 15, 2011 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629001249/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1727307131.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Jun+29,+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.2&desc=Clarification |url-status=dead }} Immigrants from Southeast Asia tend to settle in the South End, while immigrants from Eastern Europe settle in the East End.{{cite news |publisher=Jefferson Community College |title=Continuity and Change in Louisville's Ethnic Communities |last=Cummins |first=Peggy}}

{{wide image|Louisville Panorama.jpg|1000px|alt=Louisville panorama from Jeffersonville, Indiana, with Second Street Bridge in foreground|Panorama from Jeffersonville, Indiana, with George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in foreground}}

Louisville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), typical of the Upper South, and is located in USDA plant hardiness zone 7a.{{Cite web |title=USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map |url=https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=planthardiness.ars.usda.gov}} Springlike conditions typically begin in mid-to-late March, summer from mid-to-late-May to late September, with fall in the October–November period. Seasonal extremes in both temperature and precipitation are not uncommon during early spring and late fall; severe weather is not uncommon, with occasional tornado outbreaks in the region. Winter typically brings a mix of rain, sleet, and snow, with occasional heavy snowfall and icing. Louisville averages 4.5 days with low temperatures dipping to {{convert|10|°F|0}}; the first and last freezes of the season on average fall on November{{nbsp}}2 and April{{nbsp}}5, respectively. Summer is typically hazy, hot, and humid with long periods of {{convert|90|–|100|°F|°C|0}} temperatures and drought conditions at times. Louisville averages 38 days a year with high temperatures at or above {{convert|90|°F|0}}. The mean annual temperature is {{convert|58.2|°F|1}}, with an average annual snowfall of {{convert|12.7|in|cm|0}} and an average annual rainfall of {{convert|44.9|in|sigfig=3}}.

The wettest seasons are spring and summer, although rainfall is fairly constant year round. During the winter, particularly in January and February, several days of snow can be expected. January is the coldest month, with a mean temperature of {{convert|34.9|°F|1}}. July is the average hottest month with a mean of {{convert|79.3|°F|1}}.Climate information from [http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00095-PUB-A0001#TABLES NOAA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904023736/http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00095-PUB-A0001 |date=September 4, 2013 }} The highest recorded temperature was {{convert|107|°F|0}}, which last occurred on July 14, 1936, and the lowest recorded temperature was {{convert|−22|°F|0}} on January 19, 1994.Maximum and minimum temperatures from [https://web.archive.org/web/20110709042619/http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USKY1096_c.html Yahoo! Weather] In 2012, Louisville had the fourth-hottest summer on record, with the temperature rising up to {{convert|106|°F|0}} in July and the June all-time monthly record high temperature being broken on two consecutive days. As the city exemplifies the urban heat island effect, temperatures in commercial areas and in the industrialized areas along interstates are often higher than in the suburbs, often as much as {{convert|5|F-change|1}}.

{{Louisville, Kentucky weatherbox}}

{{US Census population

| 1790 = 200

| 1800 = 359

| 1810 = 1357

| 1820 = 4012

| 1830 = 10341

| 1840 = 21210

| 1850 = 43194

| 1860 = 68033

| 1870 = 100753

| 1880 = 123758

| 1890 = 161129

| 1900 = 204731

| 1910 = 223928

| 1920 = 234891

| 1930 = 307745

| 1940 = 319077

| 1950 = 369129

| 1960 = 390639

| 1970 = 361706

| 1980 = 298694

| 1990 = 269063

| 2000 = 256231

| 2010 = 597337

| 2020 = 633045

| estyear = 2022

| estimate = 624444

| estref =

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=September 16, 2017|archive-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003185009/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|url-status=live}}
In 2003, Louisville merged with
Jefferson County and population
counts were combined thereafter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abell.org/sites/default/files/publications/cd-louisvillemerger1013.pdf|title=A 10-Year Perspective of the Merger of Louisville and Jefferson County, KY: Louisville Metro Vaults From 65th to 18th Largest City in the Nation|access-date=July 20, 2020|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205052411/https://abell.org/sites/default/files/publications/cd-louisvillemerger1013.pdf|url-status=dead}}
2010–2020

}}

{{further|History of the French in Louisville|History of Germans in Louisville|History of the Irish in Louisville}}

Between 1970 and 2000, Louisville lost population each decade. As of the 2000 census, Louisville had a population of 256,231, down from the 1990 census population of 269,063. Due to the city-county merger that occurred in 2003, which expanded the city limits, the city's population increased to 597,337 at the 2010 census count.

Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky, with 17.1% of the state's total population as of 2010; the balance's percentage was 13.8%.{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2013/tables/NST-EST2013-01.csv |title=Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 |format=CSV |publisher=United States Census Bureau, Population Division |date=December 30, 2013 |access-date=June 25, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824084354/http://www.census.gov/popest/data/state/totals/2013/tables/NST-EST2013-01.csv |archive-date=August 24, 2014 }}

File:Race and ethnicity 2010- Louisville (5560442676).png

The 2007 demographic breakdown for the entire Louisville Metro area was 74.8% White (71.7% non-Hispanic), 22.2% African American, 0.6% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 0.1% Hawaiian or Pacific islander, 1.4% other, and 1.6% multiracial. About 2.9% of the total population was identified as Hispanic of any race. During the same year, the area of premerger Louisville consisted 60.1% White, 35.2% African American, 1.9% Asian, 0.2% Native American, and 3.0% other, with 2.4% identified as Hispanic of any race.

Of the 287,012 households, 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were not families. About 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.97.

The age distribution is 24.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.60 males.

The median income for a household in 2017 was $51,960. For non-family households the median income was $32,446, and for family households was $67,965. In 2017, males had a median income of $36,326 while females had a median income of $30,464.{{Cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_S1903&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214011120/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_S1903&prodType=table|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 14, 2020|title=American FactFinder—Results|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=March 24, 2019}} The latest available data for per capita income comes from 2006, and was $23,304 for the county.{{Cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_06_EST_B19301&prodType=table|title=American FactFinder—Results|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214060816/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_06_EST_B19301&prodType=table|archive-date=February 14, 2020|url-status=dead}} About 9.5% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line in 2017, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those ages 65 or over.{{Cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_S1701&prodType=table|title=American FactFinder—Results|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214060745/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_S1701&prodType=table|archive-date=February 14, 2020|url-status=dead}}

African Americans are concentrated in the Smoketown neighborhood.{{Cite web|url=https://louisville.cc/louisvilles-historic-black-neighborhoods/|title=Louisville's Historic Black Neighborhoods – Louisville History and Souvenirs|website=louisville.cc|access-date=September 7, 2023|archive-date=September 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907014809/https://louisville.cc/louisvilles-historic-black-neighborhoods/|url-status=live}}

Additionally, around 60,000 Cuban Americans are said to live in the Louisville area, with Jefferson County ranking 12th nationally.{{Cite magazine |last=Jones-Gómez |first=Zac |title=Los Kentubanos: Digging Into Louisville's Cuban Side |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/los-kentubanos-digging-into-louisvilles-cuban-side |date=March 2, 2022 |magazine=Condé Nast Traveller |access-date=October 5, 2024 |archive-date=May 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528034104/https://www.cntraveler.com/story/los-kentubanos-digging-into-louisvilles-cuban-side |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Religion in Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|Religion in Kentucky}}

File:Cathedral Assumption Louisville.jpg]]

Louisville hosts religious institutions of various faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and the Baháʼí Faith.

The 135,421 Roman Catholic Louisvillians are part of the Archdiocese of Louisville, covering 24 counties in central Kentucky, and consisting of 121 parishes and missions spread over {{convert|8124|sqmi|km2}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.archlou.org/history/statistics/ |title=Data on Catholic residents from the Archdiocese of Louisville |publisher=Archlou.org |access-date=July 28, 2009 |archive-date=October 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020183412/http://www.archlou.org/history/statistics/ |url-status=live }} The Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville is the seat of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey, the monastic home of Catholic writer Thomas Merton, is in nearby Bardstown, Kentucky, and also in the archdiocese. Most of Louisville's Roman Catholic population is of German descent, the result of large-scale 19th-century immigration.

Bellarmine University and Spalding University in Louisville are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

One in three Louisvillians is Southern Baptist, belonging to one of 147 local congregations.Data on Baptist Population from LRA website [http://www.lrba.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=20083&PID=430832 Long Run Baptist Association] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201181541/http://www.lrba.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=20083&PID=430832 |date=February 1, 2015 }} This denomination increased in number when large numbers of people moved into Louisville in the early 20th century from rural Kentucky and Tennessee to work in the city's factories; some of these migrants also formed Holiness and Pentecostal churches and Churches of Christ.

German immigrants in the 19th century brought not only a large Catholic population, but also the Lutheran and Evangelical faiths, which are represented today in Louisville by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and the United Church of Christ, respectively.

The largest Methodist Church in Kentucky, Christ Church United Methodist, is located in Louisville, and the city has boasted a large Methodist population since the cities founding.{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://ccum.net/about/|access-date=March 30, 2021|website=Christ Church United Methodist|archive-date=May 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501145016/https://ccum.net/about/|url-status=dead}}

The city is home to two megachurches. Southeast Christian Church, with its main campus in Middletown and three others in the surrounding region, is, {{as of|2023|lc=y}}, the eighth-largest church in the US by average weekend attendance.{{cite magazine |title=Outreach 100: Largest Churches in America |url=https://outreach100.com/largest-churches-in-america |magazine=Outreach |access-date=June 20, 2024 |year=2023 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619165414/https://outreach100.com/largest-churches-in-america |url-status=live }} St. Stephen Church{{cite web |url=http://ssclive.org/ |title=St. Stephen Church |access-date=October 21, 2013 |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022012344/http://ssclive.org/ |url-status=live }} has the largest African American congregation in Kentucky.{{cite news|last1=Katayama|first1=Devin|title=Former Pastor Files Discrimination Suit Against St. Stephen Baptist Church|url=http://archives.wfpl.org/2012/01/03/former-pastor-files-discrimination-suit-against-st-stephen-baptist-church/|access-date=March 15, 2017|publisher=WFPL|date=January 3, 2012|archive-date=March 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316113213/http://archives.wfpl.org/2012/01/03/former-pastor-files-discrimination-suit-against-st-stephen-baptist-church/|url-status=dead}}

The city is home to several religious institutions: the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Bible College, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the denominational headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains a temple in suburban Crestwood.{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/details/louisville-kentucky-temple|title=Louisville Kentucky Temple|website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org|access-date=October 3, 2018|archive-date=November 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106012919/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/details/louisville-kentucky-temple?lang=eng|url-status=live}}

The Jewish population of around 18,500 in the metro area{{cite web|url=https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/report/9924154070301921/filesAndLinks?index=0|title=2021–22 Study of Jewish Louisville|access-date=April 12, 2023|archive-date=April 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412055649/https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/report/9924154070301921/filesAndLinks?index=0|url-status=live}} is served by five synagogues. Most Jewish families emigrated from Eastern Europe at the start of the 20th century; around 800 Soviet Jews have moved to Louisville since 1991.{{cite news |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |title=Some synagogues eye broader styles of worship |date=September 28, 2003 |author=Smith, Peter}} Jewish immigrants founded Jewish Hospital in what was once the center of the city's Jewish district. From 2005 to 2012, Jewish Hospital merged with two Kentucky-based Catholic healthcare systems to form KentuckyOne Health, which later in 2012 announced a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital. A significant focal point for Louisville's Jewish community is located near Bowman Field, where there are two Orthodox synagogues (including Anshei Sfard, founded in 1893), the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family and Career Services, and an affordable housing complex.

Muslims in Louisville number around 10,000, both indigenous and immigrants who arrived in the early 1960s from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Turkey. Immigrants from Afghanistan arrived in the early 1980s. Those from Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia arrived in the 1990s, and the 2010s saw the arrival of immigrants from Kosovo. Many mosques and Islamic organizations exist in the metro area.{{Cite web |title=Muslims in Louisville |url=https://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_101_150/muslims_in_louisville.htm |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=www.irfi.org}}

Since 1996, every May, the Festival of Faiths,{{cite web|url=http://www.festivaloffaiths.org/|title=Festival of Faiths|access-date=August 26, 2016|archive-date=September 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912001845/http://festivaloffaiths.org/|url-status=live}} a five-day national interfaith gathering, is held featuring music, poetry, film, art, and dialogue. The festival is organized by the Center for Interfaith Relations{{cite web|url=http://www.centerforinterfaithrelations.org/|title=Center for Interfaith Relations|access-date=August 26, 2016|archive-date=October 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001182757/http://centerforinterfaithrelations.org/|url-status=live}} and is held at Actors Theatre of Louisville.{{cite news|last1=Blumberg|first1=Antonia|title=Interfaith Leaders Gather To Promote Peace in the Heart of the Christian South|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/festival-of-faiths-louisville_us_572ce9b2e4b096e9f09151d4|access-date=August 26, 2016|work=Huffington Post|date=May 6, 2016|archive-date=September 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918122057/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/festival-of-faiths-louisville_us_572ce9b2e4b096e9f09151d4|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Ethan|title=Festival of Faiths: A Q&A with the director of Louisville's 'Sundance of Sacred'|url=http://www.leoweekly.com/2015/05/festival-of-faiths-a-qa-with-the-director-of-louisvilles-sundance-of-sacred/|access-date=August 26, 2016|work=LEO Weekly|date=May 9, 2015|archive-date=May 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510074852/http://www.leoweekly.com/2015/05/festival-of-faiths-a-qa-with-the-director-of-louisvilles-sundance-of-sacred/|url-status=live}}

Louisville first welcomed the Baháʼí Faith in 1920. The Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼí of Louisville was formed in 1944 when their community reached the required amount of nine adult Baháʼís. The first Baháʼí center opened in Louisville in 1967 in Crescent Hill. When the community outgrew the space in 1985, it was sold and another center opened in Buechel in 1998.{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Nancy D. |editor-first=John E. |editor-last=Kleber |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |chapter=Baháʼís of Greater Louisville |page=58 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-2100-0 |oclc=247857447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |access-date=May 14, 2015 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313151808/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Louisville Metro Police Department|Louisville Metro EMS|Louisville Division of Fire|Jefferson County Fire Service}}

In a 2005 survey, Morgan Quitno Press ranked Louisville as the seventh safest large city in the United States."[https://web.archive.org/web/20110714114626/http://www.morganquitno.com/cit06pop.htm America's Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities]." Morgan Quitno Press. November 21, 2005. Retrieved July 8, 2006. The 2006 edition of the survey ranked Louisville eighth.{{cite news |title=Louisville among nation's safest cities |date=October 31, 2006 |newspaper=The Courier-Journal}}

In 2004, Louisville recorded 70 murders. The numbers for 2005 ranged from 55 to 59 (FBI says 55, LMPD says 59), which was down 16 percent from 2004.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wave3.com/story/5021890/fbi-report-louisville-crime-rate-outpacing-national-average|title=FBI Report: Louisville Crime Rate Outpacing National Average|website=wave3.com|date=June 13, 2006|access-date=October 22, 2010|archive-date=December 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226164956/http://www.wave3.com/story/5021890/fbi-report-louisville-crime-rate-outpacing-national-average|url-status=live}} In 2006, Louisville-Jefferson County recorded 50 murders, which was significantly lower than previous years. In 2008, Louisville recorded 79 murders.{{cite web|url=http://theurbanlouisvillian.blogspot.com/2007/06/fbi-crime-statistics-from-2006-released.html|title=The Urban Louisvillian: FBI Crime Statistics from 2006 Released|date=June 13, 2007|access-date=July 5, 2007|archive-date=March 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331082422/http://theurbanlouisvillian.blogspot.com/2007/06/fbi-crime-statistics-from-2006-released.html|url-status=live}}

The Louisville Metro Area's overall violent crime rate was 412.6 per 100,000 residents in 2005.{{Cite web|url=http://www.morganquitno.com/met05a.pdf|title=Morgan Quitno—Violent Crime Rate in 2005 (ordered by metro area)|access-date=July 5, 2007|archive-date=March 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331082426/http://www.morganquitno.com/met05a.pdf|url-status=live}} The Elizabethtown, Kentucky Metro Area, which is part of Louisville's Combined Statistical Area, was the 17th safest Metro in the U.S.{{cite web|url=http://www.morganquitno.com/cit07pop.htm#METRO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615000102/http://www.morganquitno.com/cit07pop.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |title=Morgan Quitno—Safest 25 Metropolitan Areas |url-status=dead }} Kentucky has the 5th lowest violent crime rate out of the 50 states.{{cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/crime/crime-rate-state-2006|title=Crime Rate by State, 2006|website=InfoPlease|access-date=February 5, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113084421/https://www.infoplease.com/us/crime/crime-rate-state-2006|url-status=live}}

In 2020, Louisville recorded 173 murders;{{Cite web|url=https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2020/12/30/record-number-of-homicides|title=Louisville End 2020 With Record-breaking Homicide Trend|website=spectrumnews1.com|access-date=June 15, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516223743/https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2020/12/30/record-number-of-homicides|url-status=live}} and, in 2021, Louisville recorded 188 murders amidst an ongoing violent crime wave in the city.{{cite web | url=https://www.wave3.com/2022/01/01/louisville-ends-2021-with-record-year-homicides/?outputType=amp | title=Louisville ends 2021 with record year of homicides | date=January 2022 | access-date=June 8, 2022 | archive-date=September 29, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929045251/https://www.wave3.com/2022/01/01/louisville-ends-2021-with-record-year-homicides/?outputType=amp | url-status=live }}

The city has also been one of the hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. In 2021, Louisville broke the record for overdoses in the city. Heroin, fentanyl and other opioids have also attributed to an overall increase in violent crime, property crime and homelessness in the past decade.{{Cite web|url=https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2022/06/14/kentucky-new-record-fatal-overdoses-fentanyl-opioid-addiction|title=Kentucky shatters its fatal overdose record; fentanyl blamed|website=spectrumnews1.com|access-date=June 15, 2022|archive-date=June 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614160204/https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2022/06/14/kentucky-new-record-fatal-overdoses-fentanyl-opioid-addiction|url-status=live}}

Violent crime is most concentrated west of downtown, especially in the Russell neighborhood. The West End, located north of Algonquin Parkway and West of 9th Street, had 32 of the city's 79 murders in 2007.{{cite web |title=courier-journal.com—Jefferson County homicide victims, 2007 |url=http://datacenter.courier-journal.com/police/homicides/victims.php?year=2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604194844/http://datacenter.courier-journal.com/police/homicides/victims.php?year=2007 |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |access-date=March 25, 2008 }}

{{Main|Economy of Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|Greater Louisville Inc.|Keep Louisville Weird|List of major employers in Louisville, Kentucky}}

File:LNBldBroadwayLOu.jpg Building on West Broadway]]

File:LouisvilleViewFromBelvedere.jpg Building, 400 West Market, PNC Tower, and the Humana Building in downtown Louisville]]

File:TSOK bottle hall.jpg, showcasing every bourbon being produced in Kentucky]]

Louisville today is home to dozens of companies and organizations across several industrial classifications. However, the underpinning of the city's economy since its earliest days has been the shipping and cargo industries. Its strategic location at the Falls of the Ohio, as well as its unique position in the central United States (within one day's road travel to 60 percent of the cities in the continental U.S.) make it a practical location for the transfer of cargo along its route to other destinations.{{cite book |title=Louisville Survey: Central Report |year=1978 |last=Kramer |first=Carl |page=32}} The Louisville and Portland Canal and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad were important links in water and rail transportation.

Louisville's importance to the shipping industry continues today with the presence of the Worldport global air-freight hub for UPS at Louisville International Airport. Louisville's location at the crossroads of three major interstate highways (I{{nbhyph}}64, I{{nbhyph}}65, and I{{nbhyph}}71) also contributes to its modern-day strategic importance to the shipping and cargo industry. In addition, the Port of Louisville{{cite web |url=https://www.portoflouisville.com/ |title=Port of Louisville |access-date=April 22, 2017 |archive-date=April 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413153125/https://www.portoflouisville.com/ |url-status=live }} continues Louisville's river shipping presence at Jefferson Riverport International. As of 2003, Louisville ranks as the seventh-largest inland port in the United States.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil//wcsc/pdf/inlandport03f.pdf |title=Top 20 Inland U.S. Ports for 2003 |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120015600/http://www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil//wcsc/pdf/inlandport03f.pdf |archive-date=January 20, 2013 }}

Louisville is a significant center of manufacturing, with two major Ford Motor Company plants, and the headquarters and major home appliance factory of GE Appliances (a subsidiary of Haier). The city is also a major center of the American whiskey industry, with about one-third of all bourbon whiskey coming from Louisville.{{cite news|last1=Kiniry|first1=Laura|title=Beyond bourbon in Louisville|url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20130827-beyond-bourbon-in-louisville|access-date=September 29, 2015|publisher=BBC|date=September 2, 2015|archive-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119233143/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20130827-beyond-bourbon-in-louisville|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last1=Lufkin|first1=Bryan|title=In Louisville, Try the Bourbon and Zip Line (Not at Once)|magazine=Wired|date=April 29, 2015|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/04/what-to-do-in-louisville/|access-date=September 29, 2015|archive-date=October 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001110539/http://www.wired.com/2015/04/what-to-do-in-louisville/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Things to Do in Louisville|url=http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/us/ky/articles/things-to-do-in-louisville|publisher=Travel Channel|access-date=September 29, 2015|archive-date=October 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002042351/http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/us/ky/articles/things-to-do-in-louisville|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Hall|first1=Gregory A.|title=Much of bourbon boom carries Louisville address|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/2014/10/21/much-bourbon-boom-carries-louisville-address/17654567/|access-date=September 29, 2015|work=The Courier-Journal|date=October 21, 2014|archive-date=November 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106012909/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/2014/10/21/much-bourbon-boom-carries-louisville-address/17654567/|url-status=live}} Brown-Forman, one of the major makers of American whiskey, is headquartered in Louisville and operates a distillery in the Louisville suburb of Shively. The current primary distillery site operated by Heaven Hill, called the Bernheim distillery, is also located in Louisville near Brown-Forman's distillery. Other distilleries and related businesses can also be found in neighboring cities in Kentucky, such as Bardstown, Clermont, Lawrenceburg, and Loretto. Similar to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that links these central Kentucky locations, Louisville offers tourists its own "Urban Bourbon Trail",{{cite web|url=http://www.bourboncountry.com/things-to-do/urban-bourbon-trail/index.aspx |title=Louisville, KY's Urban Bourbon Trail (UBT) |website=BourbonCounty.com |access-date=February 20, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219050143/http://www.bourboncountry.com/things-to-do/urban-bourbon-trail/index.aspx |archive-date=February 19, 2015 }} where people can stop at nearly 20 "area bars and restaurants, all offering at least 50 labels of America's only native spirit".

Not typically known for high tech outside of the previously identified industries, Code Louisville, the city's public–private partnership for teaching people entry level software development skills, received recognition in 2015 from then-President Barack Obama.{{cite web|url=http://wfpl.org/president-obama-wants-programs-like-code-louisville/|title=President Obama Wants More Programs Like Code Louisville|work=89.3 WFPL|date=April 3, 2015|access-date=April 26, 2017|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202083916/http://wfpl.org/president-obama-wants-programs-like-code-louisville/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://wfpl.org/code-louisville-aims-expand-regions-available-tech-talent/|title=Code Louisville Aims to Expand the Region's Available Tech Talent—89.3 WFPL|work=89.3 WFPL|date=March 19, 2014|access-date=April 26, 2017|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208033037/http://wfpl.org/code-louisville-aims-expand-regions-available-tech-talent/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://wfpl.org/why-louisvilles-tech-initiatives-are-on-a-national-stage-today/|title=Why Louisville's Tech Initiatives Are on a National Stage Today|work=89.3 WFPL|date=April 2, 2015|access-date=April 26, 2017|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208132822/http://wfpl.org/why-louisvilles-tech-initiatives-are-on-a-national-stage-today/|url-status=live}}

Omega Mirror Products, which at the height of the disco era in the 1970s manufactured 90% of all mirror balls in the US, is based in Louisville.{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=Amy |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/10/11/louisville-is-using-its-disco-ball-history-to-put-a-new-spin-on-tourism/ |title=Louisville is using its disco ball history to put a new spin on tourism |date=October 11, 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 1, 2024 |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312170018/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/10/11/louisville-is-using-its-disco-ball-history-to-put-a-new-spin-on-tourism/ |url-status=live }}

Several major motion pictures have been filmed in or near Louisville, including The Insider, Goldfinger, Stripes, Lawn Dogs, Elizabethtown, and Secretariat.

As of the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,{{cite web |url=https://louisvilleky.gov/management-budget/document/fy23acfr |title=Annual Comprehensive Financial Report |website=louisvilleky.gov |publisher=Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government}} Louisville's top employers are:

{{more citations needed section|date=June 2014}}

{{See also|List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area}}

File:Kentucky Derby Festival, Great Balloon Race.jpg]]

Louisville is home to many annual cultural events. Perhaps most well known is the Kentucky Derby, held annually during the first Saturday of May. The Derby is preceded by a two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, which starts with the annual Thunder Over Louisville, the largest annual fireworks display in North America.{{cite news|last1=Lammers|first1=Braden|title=Distinguished service awards presented to the men behind Thunder Over Louisville|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2014/04/11/distinguished-service-awards-presented-to-the-men.html?page=all|access-date=October 16, 2014|work=Louisville Business First|date=April 11, 2014|archive-date=October 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025061258/http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2014/04/11/distinguished-service-awards-presented-to-the-men.html?page=all|url-status=live}} The Kentucky Derby Festival also features notable events such as the Pegasus Parade, The Great Steamboat Race, Great Balloon Race, a combined marathon/mini marathon and about seventy events in total. Esquire magazine has called the Kentucky Derby "the biggest party in the south".

The summer season in Louisville also features a series of cultural events such as the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival (commonly called "Shakespeare in Central Park"), held every summer from May to August and presents free Shakespeare plays in Central Park in Old Louisville.

File:Arcade Fire, Forecastle 2018.jpg appearing at the Forecastle Festival in 2018]]

Before pausing in 2023, the Forecastle Festival during Memorial Day weekend drew 75,000 visitors ({{as of|2022|lc=y}}) to Louisville Waterfront Park in celebration of the best in music, art and environmental activism. Past performers include The Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, Widespread Panic, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Avett Brothers, The Black Crowes and hundreds more. It was replaced in 2024 with the Gazebo Festival, co-headlined by Louisville's Jack Harlow and SZA.{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Adams |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/02/28/jack-harlow-launches-louisville-gazebo-festival-lineup/72631179007/ |title=Jack Harlow launches Gazebo Festival in Louisville. Here's who will headline, perform |date=February 28, 2024 |work=Courier Journal |access-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-date=May 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523050530/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/02/28/jack-harlow-launches-louisville-gazebo-festival-lineup/72631179007/ |url-status=live }}

The Kentucky State Fair is held every August at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville as well, featuring an array of culture from all areas of Kentucky. In places, the African American community celebrates Juneteenth commemorating June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in the western territories learned of their freedom.{{cite web|url=http://www.juneteenthlegacytheatre.com/Jamboree.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509184359/http://www.juneteenthlegacytheatre.com/Jamboree.html|archive-date=May 9, 2013|title=The 11th Annual Juneteenth Jamboree of New Plays|access-date=July 16, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hellolouisville.com/event/juneteenth_jamboree_runs_june_319/200835/ |title=Juneteenth Jamboree runs June 3–19—Louisville, Kentucky |access-date=July 16, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320175241/http://www.hellolouisville.com/event/juneteenth_jamboree_runs_june_319/200835/ |archive-date=March 20, 2012 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.juneteenth.com/0kentucky_us.htm|title=Juneteenth—Kentucky|access-date=July 16, 2010|archive-date=June 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624133054/http://juneteenth.com/0kentucky_us.htm|url-status=dead}}

The Jeffersontown neighborhood is also the home of the annual Gaslight Festival, a series of events spread over a week. Attendance is estimated at 200,000–300,000 for the week.{{Cite web|url=https://www.louisville.com/content/what-do-louisville-gaslight-festival-week|title=What to Do in Louisville: Gaslight Festival Week|date=September 10, 2015|website=Louisville.com|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322213143/https://www.louisville.com/content/what-do-louisville-gaslight-festival-week|url-status=dead}}

The month of October features the St. James Court Art Show in Old Louisville. Thousands of artists gather on the streets and in the courtyard to exhibit and sell their wares, and the event is attended by many art collectors and enthusiasts. The show typically brings in a crowd of over 150,000 people and $3 million in sales.{{Cite web|url=https://www.topslouisville.com/Read/9411/62nd+Annual+St.+James+Court+Art+Show+Returns+October+5-7|title=Louisville, KY|website=topslouisville.com|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322213136/https://www.topslouisville.com/Read/9411/62nd%2BAnnual%2BSt.%2BJames%2BCourt%2BArt%2BShow%2BReturns%2BOctober%2B5-7|url-status=live}}

Another art-related event that occurs every month is the First Friday Hop.{{cite web|url=http://www.firstfridayhop.com/|title=Republic Bank First Friday Hop|website=firstfridayhop.com|access-date=June 3, 2016|archive-date=June 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609024243/http://www.firstfridayhop.com/|url-status=live}}

A Louisville locale that highlights the city's indie scene is Bardstown Road, an area located in the heart of the Highlands. Bardstown Road is known{{by whom|date=October 2024}} for its cultural diversity and local trade. Though it is only about a mile (1.6 km) long, this strip of Bardstown Road constitutes much of the city's culture and diverse lifestyle, contributing to the unofficial "Keep Louisville Weird" slogan.

In downtown Louisville, 21c Museum Hotel, a hotel that showcases contemporary art installations and exhibitions throughout its public spaces, and features a red penguin on its roof, is, according to The New York Times, "an innovative concept with strong execution and prompt and enthusiastic service".{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Louisville is home to a thriving indie music scene with bands such as Love Jones, Tantric, Squirrel Bait, CABIN, Slint, My Morning Jacket, Houndmouth, Young Widows and Wax Fang. Acclaimed singer-songwriters Will Oldham, who performs under the moniker "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy", is a resident, as was country/rock singer-songwriter Tim Krekel. Cellist Ben Sollee splits his time between Louisville and Lexington. Long running rock/jazz fusion band NRBQ also formed in Louisville in the late 1960s as well as 1980s psychobilly band Bodeco. Post-grunge band Days of the New, at one time including Nicole Scherzinger, formed in Louisville in the mid-1990s. Popular local singer Bryson Tiller paid homage to Louisville in his chart-topping T R A P S O U L with the song "502 Come Up", referencing the city's area code, and rapper Jack Harlow also calls the city home.

Especially catering to Louisville's music scene is 91.9 WFPK Radio Louisville, a local public radio station funded, in part, from local listeners.

File:FIHM.jpg]]

{{See also|List of museums in the Louisville metropolitan area|List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area}}

The West Main District in downtown Louisville features what is locally known as "Museum Row". In this area is the Frazier History Museum, which opened in 2004 as an armaments museum but since has expanded its focus. It originally featured the only collection of Royal Armouries artifacts outside of the United Kingdom until remaining display items were returned in 2015.

Also nearby is the Kentucky Science Center, which is Kentucky's largest hands-on science center and features interactive exhibits, IMAX films, educational programs and technology networks. The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, opened in 1981, is a nonprofit organization. The Muhammad Ali Center opened November 2005 in "Museum Row" and features Louisville native Muhammad Ali's boxing memorabilia. File:AliCenter.jpg, alongside I{{nbhyph}}64 on Louisville's riverfront]]

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) is a patriotic, historical, and educational non-profit organization and a leading male lineage society that perpetuates the ideals of the American war for independence and the founding of the United States. The SAR opened its National Genealogical Research Library in 2010.

The Speed Art Museum opened in 1927 and is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. The museum was closed for three years, re-opening in 2016 with 220,000 sq. ft. of renovations.{{Cite web|url=http://louisvilleky.com/the-countdown-to-the-speed-art-museums-reopening-has-begun/|title=The Countdown to the Speed Art Museum's Reopening has Begun in Louisville KY|last=RickRedding|date=March 18, 2015|website=Louisville KY|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322214819/http://louisvilleky.com/the-countdown-to-the-speed-art-museums-reopening-has-begun/|url-status=dead}} Located adjacent to the University of Louisville, the museum features over 12,000 pieces of art in its permanent collection and hosts traveling exhibitions. Multiple art galleries are located in the city, but they are especially concentrated in the East Market District (NuLu), immediately to the east of downtown.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} This row of galleries, plus others in the West Main District, are prominently featured in the monthly First Friday Hop.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Several local history museums are in the Louisville area. The most prominent among them is The Filson Historical Society, founded in 1884, which has holdings exceeding 1.5 million manuscript items and over 50,000 volumes in the library. The Filson's extensive collections focus on Kentucky, the Upper South and the Ohio River Valley, and contain a large collection of portraiture and over 10,000 museum artifacts. Other local history museums include the Portland Museum, Historic Locust Grove, Conrad-Caldwell House Museum, the Falls of the Ohio State Park interpretive center (Clarksville, Indiana), Howard Steamboat Museum (Jeffersonville, Indiana) and the Carnegie Center for Art and History (New Albany, Indiana). The Falls interpretive center, part of the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area, also functions as a natural history museum, covering findings in the nearby exposed Devonian fossil bed.

File:Belle of Louisville 2.jpg]]

There are also several historical properties and items of interest in the area, including the Belle of Louisville, the oldest Mississippi-style steamboat in operation in the United States. The United States Marine Hospital of Louisville is considered by the National Park Service to be the best remaining antebellum hospital in the United States.{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-2130183395&ResourceType=Building |title=National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL)—United States Marine Hospital |access-date=July 15, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107043203/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-2130183395&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=November 7, 2012 }} It was designed by Robert Mills, who is best known as the designer of the Washington Monument. Fort Knox, spread out among Bullitt, Hardin and Meade Counties (two of which are in the Louisville metropolitan area), is home to the U.S. Bullion Depository and the General George Patton Museum. The previously mentioned Locust Grove, former home of Louisville Founder George Rogers Clark, portrays life in the early days of the city. Other notable properties include the Farmington Historic Plantation (home of the Speed family), Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing and the restored Union Station, which opened in 1891. The Louisville area is also home to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, a turn-of-the-century (20th) hospital that was originally built to accommodate tuberculosis patients, and subsequently has been reported and sensationalized to be haunted.The Little Loomhouse maintains historical records of local spinning and weaving patterns and techniques.

File:The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.jpg in Downtown Louisville]]

{{Main|Performing arts in Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|Theater in Kentucky|List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area}}

The Kentucky Center, dedicated in 1983, located in the downtown hotel and entertainment district, features a variety of plays and concerts. This is also the home of the Louisville Ballet, Louisville Orchestra, Bourbon Baroque, Actors Theatre of Louisville, StageOne Family Theatre, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, which operates the oldest professional outdoor Shakespeare festival, and the Kentucky Opera, which is the twelfth oldest opera in the United States.

Actors Theatre of Louisville presents approximately six hundred performances of about thirty productions annually. From 1976 to 2021, it hosted the Humana Festival of New American Plays, a month-long festival of plays in the spring; the last festival took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was discontinued after the festival's chief sponsor, the Humana Foundation, refocused its philanthropic endeavors to support health-based initiatives.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wdrb.com/news/humana-festival-comes-to-an-end-as-actors-theatre-of-louisville-makes-plan-to-support/article_51d3a054-a165-11ec-a9ce-3fbdcf02873a.html|title=Humana Festival comes to an end as Actors Theatre of Louisville makes plan to support new works|date=March 11, 2022|work=WDRB|access-date=February 27, 2024|archive-date=April 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401032219/https://www.wdrb.com/news/humana-festival-comes-to-an-end-as-actors-theatre-of-louisville-makes-plan-to-support/article_51d3a054-a165-11ec-a9ce-3fbdcf02873a.html|url-status=live}}

The Louisville Orchestra was founded in 1937 by conductor Robert Whitney. The orchestra today performs more than 125 concerts per year. The orchestra won the 2024 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Instrumental Solo".{{cite news |last1=Sergio |first1=Arianna |title='I didn't have any speech prepared' {{!}} Louisville Orchestra's Teddy Abrams says winning Grammy was 'a bit of a shock' |url=https://www.whas11.com/article/entertainment/music/louisville-orchestras-teddy-abrams-grammy-award-kentucky/417-ab283ab6-83dd-47e4-8f9c-fdc85aa3b8ff |access-date=June 22, 2024 |work=WHAS11 |date=February 7, 2024 |archive-date=September 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923064444/https://www.whas11.com/article/entertainment/music/louisville-orchestras-teddy-abrams-grammy-award-kentucky/417-ab283ab6-83dd-47e4-8f9c-fdc85aa3b8ff |url-status=live }}

The Palace Theatre is an ornate theatre in downtown Louisville's theatre district which shows films and hosts concerts.

Iroquois Park is the home of the renovated Iroquois Amphitheater, which hosts a variety of musical concerts in a partially covered outdoor setting.

File:Louisville slugger field evening 2002.jpg, where the Louisville Bats play]]

File:Derby.jpg at Churchill Downs]]

File:Louisville Skatepark-night-2002.jpg]]

{{Main|Sports in Louisville, Kentucky}}

College sports are popular in the Louisville area. The Louisville Cardinals have competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), since joining that league in July 2014.

College basketball is particularly popular. The Louisville Cardinals's Freedom Hall averaged sellouts for 10 straight years and the Downtown KFC Yum! Center following suit with regular sellouts. The Cardinals ranked third nationally in attendance in 2012–13,{{cite web|url=http://static.psbin.com/a/j/rnpftk9inpzjrf/2013_release_men-s_basketball_attendance.pdf|title=2013 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE|publisher=NCAA|access-date=September 3, 2013|archive-date=June 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630234915/http://static.psbin.com/a/j/rnpftk9inpzjrf/2013_release_men-s_basketball_attendance.pdf|url-status=live}} the most recent of the program's three{{efn|name="vacated"|NCAA vacated Louisville Cardinals men's basketball's 2013 championship title, their third, due to the 2015 University of Louisville basketball sex scandal.}} national championship seasons (1980, 1986, 2013{{efn|name="vacated"}}). The Cardinals also hold the Big East conference women's basketball paid attendance record with nearly 17,000 attending the game against the Kentucky Wildcats in 2008.

The Louisville market has ranked first in ratings for the NCAA men's basketball tournament every year since 1999.{{cite news |title=Ratings again say we're March mad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-louisville-at-top-of/138557365/ |work=The Courier-Journal |page=C3 |via=Newspapers.com |date=April 9, 2008 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112035329/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-louisville-at-top-of/138557365/ |url-status=live }} The Kentucky Wildcats used to play an annual game in Freedom Hall.

The Louisville Cardinals football team has produced successful NFL players such as Lamar Jackson, Johnny Unitas, Deion Branch, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Madison, David Akers, Joe Jacoby, DeVante Parker and Ray Buchanan. The Cardinals won the 1991 Fiesta Bowl, the 2007 Orange Bowl, and the 2013 Sugar Bowl. In 2016, sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson took the football team to new heights. Lamar was the school's first Heisman Trophy winner, which is awarded to the most outstanding college football player nationwide during that season. He was also one of the youngest players to ever receive the award. The team also matched their highest ranking in school history at No. 3. The University of Louisville baseball team advanced to the College World Series in Omaha in 2007, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2019 as one of the final eight teams to compete for the national championship.

Horse racing is also a major attraction. Churchill Downs is home to the Kentucky Derby, the largest sporting event in the state, as well as the Kentucky Oaks which together cap the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned Breeders' Cup on eight occasions, most recently in 2011.

Louisville is also the home of Valhalla Golf Club which hosted the 1996, 2000, 2014, and 2024 PGA Championships, the 2004 Senior PGA Championship and the 2008 Ryder Cup. It is also home to David Armstrong Extreme Park (formerly Louisville Extreme Park), which skateboarder Tony Hawk has called one of his top five skate parks.{{cite web |url=http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/louisville-extreme-park/ |title=Louisville Extreme Park |publisher=Skateboarder Magazine |work=Skateboardermag.com |access-date=July 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211181038/http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/louisville-extreme-park/ |archive-date=February 11, 2011 }}

Louisville has seven professional and semi-professional sports teams. The Louisville Bats are a baseball team playing in the International League as the Triple-A affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. The team plays at Louisville Slugger Field in downtown.

Louisville City FC, a professional soccer team in the second-division USL Championship, began play in 2015 at Slugger Field and has since moved into their own soccer-specific stadium, Lynn Family Stadium, in 2020.{{cite news |last=Rimpson |first=Robert |date=August 5, 2019 |title=Louisville City FC announces the name of its new soccer stadium in Butchertown |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/soccer/louisville-city-fc/2019/08/05/louisville-city-fc-has-named-its-home-field-lynn-family-stadium/1920374001/ |work=The Courier-Journal |access-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106013407/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/soccer/louisville-city-fc/2019/08/05/louisville-city-fc-has-named-its-home-field-lynn-family-stadium/1920374001/ |url-status=live }} The team was originally the reserve side for Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer, but the two organizations were separated in 2016. Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League began play in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium.{{cite press release |date=October 22, 2019 |title=National Women's Soccer League announces expansion to Louisville in 2021 |url=http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-expansion-to-louisville-in-2021 |publisher=National Women's Soccer League |access-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027113957/https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-expansion-to-louisville-in-2021 |url-status=live }}

Louisville had two professional American football teams in the National Football League: the Louisville Breckenridges (or Brecks for short) from 1921 to 1924 and the Louisville Colonels in 1926.{{cite book |last=Biesel |first=David B. |title=Can You Name that Team?: A Guide to Professional Baseball, Football, Soccer, Hockey, and Basketball Teams and Leagues |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=1993 |page=38}}

Between 1967 and 1976, Louisville was home to the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association. The Colonels was one of the ABA's most successful teams during its existence, winning four division titles and the 1975 ABA Championship, but was not invited to join the NBA when the two leagues merged in 1976, and subsequently folded.

Louisville has the added distinction of being the only city in the world that is the birthplace of four heavyweight boxing champions: Marvin Hart, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Ellis and Greg Page.{{Cite news|last=Loverro|first=Thom|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/9/muhammad-ali-louisville-boxing-jimmy-ellis/|title=Muhammad Ali always stood out among Louisville's four kings of boxing|work=The Washington Times|date=June 9, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215123737/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/9/muhammad-ali-louisville-boxing-jimmy-ellis/|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Sports in Louisville, Kentucky#Historical teams|l1=Historical professional sports teams in Louisville}}

{{See also|List of parks in the Louisville metropolitan area|List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area}}

File:WaterfrontPkDwnt.jpg exhibits rolling hills, spacious lawns and walking paths in the downtown area.]]

File:MetroLoopLBT.jpg bike and pedestrian trail]]

Louisville Metro has 122 city parks covering more than {{convert|13000|acre|km2}}. Several of these parks were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York City's Central Park as well as parks, parkways, college campuses and public facilities in many U.S. locations. The Louisville Waterfront Park is prominently located on the banks of the Ohio River near downtown and features large open areas, which often hold free concerts and other festivals. The Big Four Bridge, a former railroad bridge spanning {{convert|547|ft|m}} but is now a pedestrian bridge connecting Waterfront Park with Jeffersonville, Indiana's waterfront park, fully opened in May 2014 with the completion of Jeffersonville's ramp.{{cite news|title=Big Four Bridge walkway about to be a step closer|newspaper=The Courier-Journal|date=May 16, 2007|author=Shafer, Sheldon}}{{cite news |author=Lord, Joseph |title=Indiana Side of Big Four Bridge Is Opening This Afternoon |url=http://wfpl.org/post/indiana-side-big-four-bridge-opening-afternoon |publisher=WFPL |date=May 20, 2014 |access-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-date=July 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717202926/http://wfpl.org/post/indiana-side-big-four-bridge-opening-afternoon |url-status=live }} Cherokee Park, one of the most visited parks in the nation,{{cite web|url=http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/citypark_facts/ccpe_Most_Visited_Parks_08.pdf |title=America's Most Visited City Parks |date=October 1, 2008 |access-date=March 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5fgh5pn16?url=http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/citypark_facts/ccpe_Most_Visited_Parks_08.pdf |archive-date=March 31, 2009 |url-status=dead }} features a {{convert|2.6|mi|km|1|adj=on}} mixed-use loop and many well-known landscaping and architectural features including the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion. Other notable parks in the system include Iroquois Park, Shawnee Park, Seneca Park and Central Park.

Further from the downtown area is the Jefferson Memorial Forest, which at {{convert|6676|acre|km2}} is one of the largest municipal urban forests in the US.{{Cite web|url=http://www.louisvilleky.gov/News/WideNewsItem.htm?PostingGuid={C2B603F2-674F-4071-BAB9-C94AE3F9CA75}|title=New Property Connects Sections of Jefferson Memorial Forest |date=November 17, 2009 |website=LouisvilleKy.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630201433/http://www.louisvilleky.gov/News/WideNewsItem.htm?PostingGuid={C2B603F2-674F-4071-BAB9-C94AE3F9CA75} |archive-date=June 30, 2014 |access-date=May 9, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Jefferson-Memorial-Forest.aspx|title=Jefferson Memorial Forest – Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet|website=eec.ky.gov|access-date=May 9, 2024|archive-date=September 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926161015/https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Jefferson-Memorial-Forest.aspx|url-status=live}} The forest is designated as a National Audubon Society wildlife refuge{{cite news |last1=Aubespin |first1=Mervin |title=County forest named wildlife refuge |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-jefferson-memorial-f/146943386/ |access-date=May 9, 2024 |work=The Courier-Journal |date=October 5, 1975 |page=A19 |archive-date=May 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510022042/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-jefferson-memorial-f/146943386/ |url-status=live }} and offers nearly {{convert|60|mi|km}} of hiking and equestrian trails.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wildernesslouisville.org/natural-areas/jefferson-memorial-forest/|title=Visit Jefferson Memorial Forest|website=Wilderness Louisville|date=May 24, 2021 |access-date=May 9, 2024|archive-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314024117/https://www.wildernesslouisville.org/natural-areas/jefferson-memorial-forest/|url-status=live}}

Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area, owned and operated by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, is another large park in nearby Brandenburg, Kentucky. The park's namesake, Otter Creek, winds along the eastern side of the park. A scenic bend in the Ohio River, which divides Kentucky from Indiana, can be seen from northern overlooks within the park.

Other outdoor points of interest in the Louisville area include Cave Hill Cemetery (the burial location of Col. Harland Sanders), Zachary Taylor National Cemetery (the burial location of President Zachary Taylor), the Louisville Zoo and the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area.

In development is the City of Parks, a project to create a {{convert|110|mi|adj=on}} continuous paved pedestrian and biking trail called the Louisville Loop around Louisville Metro while also adding a large amount of park land. Current plans call for making approximately {{convert|4000|acre|km2}} of the Floyds Fork flood plain in eastern Jefferson County into a new park system called The Parklands of Floyds Fork, expanding area in the Jefferson Memorial Forest, and adding riverfront land and wharfs along the Riverwalk and the Levee Trail, both completed segments of the Louisville Loop.

File:Louisville City Hall, HABS KY-143-9.jpg in downtown, built 1870–1873, is a blend of Italianate styles characteristic of Neo-Renaissance.]]

{{Main|Government of Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|List of mayors of Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville Metro Council|Government of Kentucky}}

Until 2015, Louisville was one of two cities in Kentucky designated by the state as first-class (along with Lexington, the state's second-largest).{{efn|Under Kentucky's current classification scheme, which went into effect on January 1, 2015, cities with a mayor–alderman form of government are first-class, with the "home rule class" covering all other forms. This replaced a system in which cities were divided into six classes, nominally by population.{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimestribune.com/news/local_news/corbin-other-tri-county-cities-now-in-home-rule-class/article_9b272838-81d5-59ee-9b4e-14cc01449d94.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141111180956/http://www.thetimestribune.com/news/local_news/corbin-other-tri-county-cities-now-in-home-rule-class/article_9b272838-81d5-59ee-9b4e-14cc01449d94.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 11, 2014 |title=Corbin, other Tri-County cities now in Home Rule Class |first=Jeff |last=Noble |newspaper=The Times-Tribune |location=Corbin, KY |date=April 30, 2014 |access-date=November 11, 2014 }}}} Since January 6, 2003, Louisville has merged its government with that of Jefferson County, forming coterminous borders. Louisville was the second and only other city in the state to merge with its county. (Lexington had merged with Fayette County in 1974.)

Louisville Metro is governed by an executive called the Metro Mayor and a city legislature called the Metro Council. The third and current Metro Mayor is Craig Greenberg (D), who entered office on January 3, 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/kentucky/2022/11/08/craig-greenberg-bill-dieruf-louisville-mayor-kentucky-election-2022/69509589007/ |title=Louisville mayor 2022 election: Craig Greenberg beats Bill Dieruf |publisher=Courier-journal.com |access-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106013408/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/kentucky/2022/11/08/craig-greenberg-bill-dieruf-louisville-mayor-kentucky-election-2022/69509589007/ |url-status=live }}

Before merger, under the Kentucky Constitution and statutory law Louisville was designated as a first-class city in regard to local laws affecting public safety, alcohol beverage control, revenue options, and various other matters; as of 2014, it is the only such designated city in the state.{{cite web |url=http://www.klc.org/UserFiles/TheBasics2011_Sept(2).pdf |title=KLC Research Report: The Basics of Kentucky Cities |access-date=August 4, 2012 |date=September 2011 |publisher=Kentucky League of Cities |archive-date=August 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809075108/http://www.klc.org/UserFiles/TheBasics2011_Sept(2).pdf |url-status=live }}

The Official Seal of the City of Louisville, no longer used following the merger, reflected its history and heritage in the fleur-de-lis representing French aid given during the Revolutionary War and the thirteen stars signifying the original colonies. The new Seal of Louisville Metro retains the fleur-de-lis, but has only two stars, one representing the city and the other the county.

Kentucky's 3rd congressional district encompasses most of Louisville Metro, and is represented by Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D). Far eastern portions of the county are part of the 2nd congressional district, which is represented by Brett Guthrie (R).{{cite web |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/KY/3 |title=Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District—Representatives & District Map |access-date=May 6, 2024 |publisher=GovTrack.us |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820185512/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/KY/3 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/KY/2 |title=Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District—Representatives & District Map |access-date=May 6, 2024 |publisher=GovTrack.us |archive-date=May 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506163234/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/KY/2 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|List of schools in Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville Free Public Library}}

File:Grawhallul.jpg, modeled after the Roman Pantheon, is the University of Louisville's main administrative building.]]

File:Picture 154ULMedPlaza.jpg

Louisville is home to several institutions of higher learning. There are six four-year universities, the University of Louisville, Bellarmine University, Boyce College, Spalding University, Sullivan University and Simmons College of Kentucky; Louisville Bible College; a two-year community college, Jefferson Community and Technical College; and several other business or technical schools such as Spencerian College, Strayer University and Sullivan College of Technology and Design. Indiana University Southeast is located across the Ohio River in New Albany, Indiana.

The University of Louisville has had notable achievements including several hand transplants{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/26/us/doctors-in-louisville-perform-nation-s-first-hand-transplant.html |title=Doctors in Louisville Perform Nation's First Hand Transplant |last=Altman |first=Lawrence K. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 26, 1999 |access-date=August 8, 2015 |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613235309/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/26/us/doctors-in-louisville-perform-nation-s-first-hand-transplant.html |url-status=live }} and the world's first self-contained artificial heart transplant.{{cite news |last=Altman |first=Lawrence K. |title=Self-Contained Mechanical Heart Throbs for First Time in a Human |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/04/us/self-contained-mechanical-heart-throbs-for-first-time-in-a-human.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 4, 2001 |access-date=August 8, 2015 |archive-date=October 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018192113/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/04/us/self-contained-mechanical-heart-throbs-for-first-time-in-a-human.html |url-status=live }}

Two major graduate-professional schools of religion are also located in Louisville. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with more than 5,300 students, is the flagship institution of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was founded in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1859 and moved to Louisville in 1877, occupying its present campus on Lexington Road in 1926. Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, product of a 1901 merger of two predecessor schools founded at Danville, Kentucky in 1853 and in Louisville in 1893, occupied its present campus on Alta Vista Road in 1963.

According to the U.S. Census, of Louisville's population over 25, 21.3% (the national average is 24%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher and 76.1% (80% nationally) have a high school diploma or equivalent.

The public school system, Jefferson County Public Schools, consists of more than 100,000 students in 173 schools.{{cite web |title=About JCPS, JCPS at a Glance |url=http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/About/About.html |publisher=Jefferson County Public Schools |access-date=October 5, 2015 |archive-date=October 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006050008/http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/About/About.html |url-status=dead }} Dupont Manual High School ranks 30th in the nation overall for best high schools, and 13th in best magnet high schools.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/kentucky/districts/jefferson-county/dupont-manual-high-8332|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420022338/http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/kentucky/districts/jefferson-county/dupont-manual-high-8332|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 20, 2016|title=U.S. News & World Report}} Due to Louisville's large Catholic population, there are 27 Catholic schools in the city. The Kentucky School for the Blind, for all of Kentucky's blind and visually impaired students, is located on Frankfort Avenue in the Clifton neighborhood.

In 1908, Louisville Kentucky was home to the countries first public library in the South for African Americans housed in a Carnegie-funded facility. This public library still stands today as the Western Colored Branch Public Library known today as the Louisville Free Public Library, Western Branch. It took its place in history as the first in the nation to provide library services exclusively for the African American community, using only African American staff. African Americans in Louisville were among the leaders in a national struggle to address the injustices this system imposed.{{Cite journal |last=Fultz |first=Michael |date=June 2006 |title=Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of De Jure Segregation |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/202960 |journal=Libraries & the Cultural Record |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=337–359 |doi=10.1353/lac.2006.0042 |issn=1932-9555}} Albert Meyzeek, a black educator who over the years served as principal at several local schools was one of the leaders in the effort to build positive community infrastructures for purposes of racial uplift. During his three-year tenure as principal at the segregated Central High School, Meyzeek led the campaign to establish a black library, that being the Western Colors Branch Public Library.

In addition to establishing the first public library for African Americans in the South, two other members of Louisville’s black middle class, Rev Thomas Fountain Blue, the administrative head of the Western and Eastern Colored Branches, and Rachel Davis Harris, a children’s library specialist and the chief assistant in charge of school and extensive work, worked to establish both branches as community social centers. In 1917, 498 meetings were held at both branches, with close to 12,000 in attendance. In 1912, Blue organized an apprenticeship librarian class, the only opportunity for formal training for prospective black librarians in the South at the time.{{Cite journal |date=October 1999 |title=THE LOUISVILLE WESTERN BRANCH LIBRARY: The First African American Public Library |url= |journal=New Crisis (15591603) |volume=106 |issue=5 |pages=36}}

{{Main|Media in Louisville, Kentucky}}

Louisville's newspaper of record is The Courier Journal. The alternative paper is the progressive alt-weekly Louisville Eccentric Observer (commonly called 'LEO'), which was founded by 3rd district U.S. Representative John Yarmuth (D).

WAVE 3, an NBC affiliate, was Kentucky's first TV station. Another prominent TV station is ABC affiliate WHAS 11, formerly owned by the Bingham family (who also owned The Courier Journal), which hosts the regionally notable annual fundraiser, the WHAS Crusade for Children. Other television stations in the city include CBS affiliate WLKY 32 and Fox affiliate WDRB 41 (along with its dual The CW/MyNetworkTV affiliated sister station WBKI 58).

The most popular radio stations are WGZB-FM and 84 WHAS 840 AM.{{cite web | url = https://tlr.nielsen.com/tlr/public/market.do?method=loadAllMarket | publisher = Nielsen | work = Nielsen Topline Ratings For Subscribing Radio Stations | title = Louisville, KY, AHQ Share For Persons 12+, Mon-Sun 6am-mid | date = January 8, 2019 | access-date = March 12, 2019 | archive-date = December 6, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181206220238/https://tlr.nielsen.com/tlr/public/market.do?method=loadAllMarket | url-status = live }} The latter was designated by the FCC as a clear-channel station, and was formerly owned by the Binghams (now iHeartMedia), and is a talk radio station that also broadcasts regional sports.

{{Main|Transportation in Louisville, Kentucky}}

{{See also|Roads in Louisville, Kentucky}}

File:2020 4BandImagery Indiana J874808.jpg ("Spaghetti Junction"), after completion of the Ohio River Bridges Project]]

File:Ksdf.jpg]]

File:Louisville 4thStreet trolley.jpg until late 2014, before being replaced by LouLift.]]

Louisville has inner and outer interstate beltways, I{{nbhyph}}264 and I{{nbhyph}}265 respectively. Interstates I{{nbhyph}}64 and I{{nbhyph}}65 pass through Louisville, and I-71 has its southern terminus in Louisville. Since all three of these highways intersect at virtually the same location on the east side of downtown, this spot has become known as "Spaghetti Junction". Three bridges carry I{{nbhyph}}64 and I{{nbhyph}}65 over the Ohio River, and a fourth automobile bridge carries non-interstate traffic, including bicyclists and pedestrians. Immediately east of downtown is the Big Four Bridge, a former railroad bridge that has been renovated into as a pedestrian bridge.

The Ohio River Bridges Project, a plan under consideration for decades to construct two new interstate bridges over the Ohio River to connect Louisville to Indiana, including a reconfiguration of Spaghetti Junction, began construction in 2012.{{cite news |author=Collier, Rachel |title=Construction to begin soon on The Ohio River Bridges Project |url=http://www.wdrb.com/story/19370142/construction-to-begin-soon-on-the-ohio-river-bridges-project |publisher=WDRB |date=August 24, 2012 |access-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006081807/http://www.wdrb.com/story/19370142/construction-to-begin-soon-on-the-ohio-river-bridges-project |url-status=live }} One bridge, the Abraham Lincoln Bridge, is located downtown beside the existing Kennedy Bridge for relief of I{{nbhyph}}65 traffic. The other, named the Lewis and Clark Bridge, connects I{{nbhyph}}265 between the portions located in southeast Clark County, Indiana and northeast Jefferson County, Kentucky (Louisville Metro).{{cite news |author=Green, Marcus |title=Bridge project tunnels' cost rises; Exploratory shaft will plot path for two others |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1725940601.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+16%2C+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Bridge+project+tunnels%27+cost+rises |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |date=July 16, 2007 |access-date=July 16, 2007 |archive-date=June 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624085719/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1725940601.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+16%2C+2007&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Bridge+project+tunnels%27+cost+rises |url-status=dead }} Both bridges and corresponding construction were finished in 2016.{{cite web |title=The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing—The Project Overview |url=http://kyinbridges.com/downtown-crossing/overview/ |access-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-date=February 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213042535/http://kyinbridges.com/downtown-crossing/overview/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=East End Crossing—The Project |url=http://eastendcrossing.com/project-overview/ |access-date=June 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710021612/http://eastendcrossing.com/project-overview/ |archive-date=July 10, 2014 |url-status=dead }}

Louisville's main airport is the centrally located Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, whose IATA Airport code (SDF) reflects its former name of Standiford Field. The airport is also home to UPS's Worldport global air hub. UPS operates its largest package-handling hub at Louisville International Airport and bases its UPS Airlines division there. Over 4.2 million passengers and over 4.7 billion pounds (2,350,000 t) of cargo pass through the airport each year.{{cite web |url=http://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=SDF&Airport_Name=Louisville,%20KY:%20Louisville%20International-Standiford%20Field&carrier=FACTS |title=Louisville, KY: Louisville International-Standiford Field (SDF) |date=March 2014 |access-date=July 6, 2014 |archive-date=September 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924165712/https://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1 |url-status=live }} It is also the second busiest airport in the United States in terms of cargo traffic, and fourth busiest for such in the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.aci.aero/News/Releases/Most-Recent/2014/03/31/Preliminary-World-Airport-Traffic-and-Rankings-2013--High-Growth-Dubai-Moves-Up-to-7th-Busiest-Airport- |title=Preliminary World Airport Traffic and Rankings 2013—High Growth Dubai Moves Up to 7th Busiest Airport |date=March 31, 2014 |access-date=July 6, 2014 |publisher=Airports Council International |archive-date=April 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401052319/http://www.aci.aero/News/Releases/Most-Recent/2014/03/31/Preliminary-World-Airport-Traffic-and-Rankings-2013--High-Growth-Dubai-Moves-Up-to-7th-Busiest-Airport- |url-status=live }} Only about 35 minutes from Fort Knox, the airport is also a major hub for armed services personnel. The historic but smaller Bowman Field is used mainly for general aviation while nearby Clark Regional Airport is used mostly by private jets.

The McAlpine Locks and Dam is located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, near the downtown area. The locks were constructed to allow shipping past the Falls of the Ohio.

Public transportation consists mainly of buses run by the Transit Authority of River City (TARC). The city buses serve all parts of downtown Louisville and Jefferson County, as well as Kentucky suburbs in Oldham County, Bullitt County, and the Indiana suburbs of Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany. In addition to regular city buses, transit throughout the downtown hotel and shopping districts is served by a fleet of zero-emissions buses called LouLift. In late 2014, these vehicles replaced the series of motorized trolleys known as the Toonerville II Trolley.{{cite news|last1=Gee|first1=Dawne|title=TARC replaces trolleys with ZeroBus|url=http://www.wave3.com/story/27690555/tarc-replaces-trolleys-with-zerobus|access-date=September 29, 2015|publisher=WAVE|date=December 22, 2014|archive-date=October 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001092733/http://www.wave3.com/story/27690555/tarc-replaces-trolleys-with-zerobus|url-status=live}} A light rail system has been studied and proposed for the city, but no plan was in development as of 2007.{{cite news |first=Marcus |last=Green |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1749372341.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+29%2C+2006&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Mass+transit+plan+still+possible |title=Mass transit plan still possible; Officials will look for financing options |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |date=November 29, 2006 |access-date=January 23, 2007 |archive-date=June 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624085522/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1749372341.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+29%2C+2006&author=&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Mass+transit+plan+still+possible |url-status=dead }}

Louisville has historically been a major center for railway traffic. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was once headquartered here, before it was purchased by CSX Transportation. Today the city is served by two major freight railroads, CSX (with a major classification yard in the southern part of the metro area) and Norfolk Southern. Five major main lines connect Louisville to the rest of the region. Two regional railroads, the Paducah and Louisville Railway and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad, also serve the city. With the discontinuance of the stop in Louisville in 2003 for a more northerly route between New York and Chicago, the Kentucky Cardinal no longer serves the city; it is thus the fifth largest city in the country with no passenger rail service.{{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/moksrail/documents/pop/msa.htm |title=Metropolitan Areas Served by Amtrak |date=November 23, 2006 |access-date=April 21, 2009 |archive-date=June 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624205811/http://www.trainweb.org/moksrail/documents/pop/msa.htm |url-status=live }}

In 2016 Walk Score ranked Louisville 43rd "most walkable" of 141 U.S. cities with a population greater than 200,000.{{cite web |url = https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ |title=Most Walkable Cities in the US |year=2016 |publisher=Walk Score |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170131231927/https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=May 6, 2017 }}

File:Louisville water tower.jpg is the oldest water tower in the U.S.]]

Electricity is provided to the Louisville Metro area by Louisville Gas & Electric.

Water is provided by the Louisville Water Company, which provides water to more than 800,000 residents in Louisville as well as parts of Oldham and Bullitt counties. Additionally, they provide wholesale water to the outlying counties of Shelby, Spencer and Nelson.Data from [http://www.louisvilleky.gov/LWC Louisville Water] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415204341/http://www.louisvilleky.gov/LWC |date=April 15, 2009 }}

The Ohio River provides for most of the city's source of drinking water. Water is drawn from the river at two points: the raw water pump station at Zorn Avenue and River Road, and the B.E. Payne Pump Station northeast of Harrods Creek. Water is also obtained from a riverbank infiltration well at the Payne Plant. There are also two water treatment plants serving the Louisville Metro area: The Crescent Hill Treatment Plant and the B.E. Payne Treatment Plant. In June 2008, the Louisville Water Company received the "Best of the Best" award from the American Water Works Association, citing it as the best-tasting drinking water in the country.{{cite news |url=http://www.awwa.org/publications/MainStreamArticle.cfm?itemnumber=36618 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326024952/http://www.awwa.org/publications/MainStreamArticle.cfm?itemnumber=36618 |archive-date=March 26, 2012 |title=Louisville wins best water taste test |date=June 10, 2008 |publisher=American Water Works Association |access-date=March 8, 2010}}

File:LouMetPolice.jpg cruiser]]

File:LMEMS 1255 (8).JPG ambulance]]

The primary law enforcement agencies are the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO). 911 emergency medical services are provided by the government as Louisville Metro EMS.

Fire protection is provided by 16 independent fire departments working in concert through mutual aid agreements. The only fire department operated by Metro Government is Louisville Fire & Rescue, the successor to the pre-merger Louisville Division of Fire. The city of Shively in western Jefferson County possesses an independent fire department that uses the same dispatch and radio channels as Louisville Fire and Rescue.{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Christopher |title=Shively firefighters strengthen ties with Louisville |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-shively-fire-departm/149716712/ |access-date=June 20, 2024 |work=The Courier-Journal |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 28, 2003 |page=D1 |archive-date=September 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923064545/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-shively-fire-departm/149716712/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main list|List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area}}

{{See also|List of University of Louisville people}}

Important events occurring in the city include the second-largest American exhibition to date (1883), which had the largest to-date installation of light bulbs by their recent inventor and then-former resident Thomas Edison, as well as the first free public library in the US to be staffed by and provide services exclusively for African Americans (1905).{{cite web |url=https://www.lfpl.org/separateflame |title=African-American Archives – Western Branch: The First African American Public Library |publisher=Louisville Free Public Library |access-date=September 26, 2023 |archive-date=September 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927005936/https://www.lfpl.org/separateflame |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.uky.edu/Subject/lama.html |title=African Americans in Library Professions: The Kentucky Connection |publisher=Uky.edu |date=December 7, 2004 |access-date=February 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121190156/http://www.uky.edu/Subject/lama.html |archive-date=January 21, 2013}} Medical advances include the 1999 first human hand transplant in the US and the first self-contained artificial heart transplant in 2001.

File:Louisville sistercities.jpg

Louisville's sister cities are:{{cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.sclou.org/|website=sclou.org|publisher=Sister Cities of Louisville|access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=September 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930211642/https://www.sclou.org/|url-status=dead}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• {{flagicon|TUR}} Adapazarı, Turkey
• {{flagicon|CHN}} Jiujiang, China

• {{flagicon|GER}} Mainz, Germany
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Montpellier, France
• {{flagicon|ARG}} La Plata, Argentina
• {{flagicon|ECU}} Quito, Ecuador
• {{flagicon|GHA}} Tamale, Ghana

{{div col end}}

Louisville was sister cities with Perm, Russia. However, this relationship was temporarily suspended by Mayor Greg Fischer in June 2022 in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2022 |title=World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana's Statement on our relationship with Perm, Russia |url=https://www.worldkentucky.org/blog/world-affairs-council-of-kentucky-and-southern-indianas-statement-on-our-relationship-with-perm-russia |access-date=August 18, 2023 |website=World Affairs Council|archive-date=August 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818233441/https://www.worldkentucky.org/blog/world-affairs-council-of-kentucky-and-southern-indianas-statement-on-our-relationship-with-perm-russia |url-status=dead }}

In addition, Louisville has been recognized as a "friendship city". The two cities have engaged in many cultural exchange programs, particularly in the fields of nursing and law, and cooperated in several private business developments, including the Frazier History Museum."[http://www.sclou.org/index.php?id=114 Friendship City Status] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427141003/http://www.sclou.org/index.php?id=114 |date=April 27, 2006 }}." [http://www.sclou.org/ Sister Cities of Louisville] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128235415/https://www.sclou.org/ |date=January 28, 2019 }}. 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2006.

Although not a sister city, Louisville has friendly and cooperative relations with Chengdu, China.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gochengdu.cn/news/our-sister-cities/city-profile-exchange-activities/our-sister-cities-a2101.html|title=Our Sister Cities|date=July 31, 2016|website=Go Chengdu|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322184820/https://www.gochengdu.cn/news/our-sister-cities/city-profile-exchange-activities/our-sister-cities-a2101.html|url-status=dead}}

• List of cities and towns along the Ohio River
• USS Louisville, 4 ships

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book

| first = Rick

| last = Bell

| year = 2007

| title = The Great Flood of 1937: Rising Waters, Soaring Spirits

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EI-GGgAACAAJ

| publisher = Butler Books

| location = Louisville, Kentucky

| isbn = 978-1-884532-82-5

| access-date = August 9, 2015

}}

• {{cite book

| first = Dennis

| last = Domer

|author2=Gregory A. Luhan |author3=David Mohney

| year = 2004

| title = The Louisville Guide

| isbn = 978-1-56898-451-3

| publisher = Princeton Architectural Press

| location = New York

}}

• {{cite book

| author = Greater Louisville Inc.

| year = 2006

| title = Louisville Then and Now

| publisher = Butler Books

| isbn = 978-1-884532-68-9

}}

• {{cite book

| editor-first = John E.

| editor-last = Kleber

| year = 2001

| title = The Encyclopedia of Louisville

| publisher = University Press of Kentucky

| location = Lexington, Kentucky

| isbn = 978-0-8131-2100-0

| oclc = 247857447

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYITw4ZesC

| access-date = May 14, 2015

}}

• {{cite news

| first = Gary

| last = Lee

| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/18/AR2006081800300.html

| title = Louisville Old and New: Either Way, It's a Knockout

| newspaper = The Washington Post

| date = August 20, 2006

| access-date = October 1, 2006

}}

• {{cite book

| first = Chip

| last = Nold

| author2 = Bob Bahr

| year = 1997

| title = Insiders' Guide to Louisville, Kentucky & Southern Indiana

| publisher = Globe Pequot

| isbn = 978-1-57380-043-3

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetol0000nold

}}

• {{cite book

|first=David

|last=Sanders

|author2=Glen Conner

|year=2000

|title=Fact Sheet—Ohio River Floods

|publisher=Kentucky Climate Center

|url=http://www.kyclimate.org/factsheets/ohioriverfloods.html

|access-date=June 23, 2014 |url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319233530/http://www.kyclimate.org/factsheets/ohioriverfloods.html

|archive-date=March 19, 2015 }}

• {{cite book

| first = George H.

| last = Yater

| year = 1987

| title = Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County

| publisher = Filson Club, Incorporated

| location = Louisville, Kentucky

| edition = 2nd

| isbn = 978-0-9601072-3-0

}}

{{Sister project links|Louisville, Kentucky|voy=Louisville}}

• {{Official website|https://louisvilleky.gov/}}
• [https://www.gotolouisville.com/ Louisville Tourism & Events]
• [https://www.lojic.org/lojic-online LOJIC Online] – Interactive map of Louisville Metro
• [https://digital.library.louisville.edu/?f%5Bcity_sim%5D%5B%5D=Louisville+%28Ky.%29&f%5Bmedia_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=Still+Image&locale=en Images of Louisville from the University of Louisville Digital Collections]

{{Clear}}

{{Louisville}}

{{Jefferson County, Kentucky}}

{{Kentucky}}

{{Kentucky county seats}}

{{KYLargestCities}}

{{Southern United States}}

{{Great Lakes Megalopolis}}

{{All-American City Award Hall of Fame|state=collapsed}}

{{USPopulousCities}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|Geography|North America|United States|Kentucky|Cities}}

Category:Cities in Kentucky

Category:County seats in Kentucky

Category:Cities in Jefferson County, Kentucky

*

Category:Populated places established in 1778

Category:Consolidated city-counties

Category:Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River

Category:1778 establishments in Virginia

Category:Inland port cities and towns of the United States