Look Up, Louisville! A Walking Tour of Louisville, Kentucky

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour is ready to explore when you are.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

In its entire 981-mile run in Colonial times there was only one barrier to navigation on the Ohio River, a series of dangerous rapids known as the Falls of the Ohio. Since travelers in either direction were forced to stop here it was pretty certain that a town would be settled here eventually. The reality came in 1780 when George Rogers Clark was campaigning in the then Northwest during the American Revolution. As a token of appreciation for his assistance in the struggle for independence the settlement was named after King Louis XVI of France.

Early growth was spurred by the loading and unloading of boats but Lexington outpaced Louisville as Kentucky's first town after statehood came in 1792. That changed forever in 1811 when the steamboat New Orleans chugged into port, the first successful steamer on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Soon travel time from New Orleans to Louisville was cut to 12 days, less than half the time it took keel-boats to float down the river. In 1830 the two-mile Louisville and Portland Canal became the first artificial passage to be completed in America on a major river and the town boomed. By 1850 Louisville was one of America's ten most populous cities.

Louisville officially became a major league city in 1876 when the Louisville Grays became of charter member of baseball's National League. The Grays finished fifth in professional baseball's debut season. A year earlier Aristides outran 14 other horses to claim the winner's purse of $2,850 in the first Kentucky Derby.

The town hugged the Ohio River for the better part of its first 100 years, spreading out from east to west first along Main Street and then one block further south on Market Street. In the 20th century development sprinted south along Fourth Street giving Louisville a T-shaped footprint. Our walking tour will mimic the historical development of the town and we will begin at the banks of the Ohio River where the waterway is its widest...