You may qualify for down payment assistance and also the First Time Buyer’s Credit of $8,000
Contact me to find out more.
March 24, 2008
April 11, 2009
Frazier Museum Fontaine Ferry Exhibition
On May 16, the Frazier International History Museum opens Fontaine Ferry, a 3,800 square foot exhibition that explores this integral part of Louisville’s history, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the park’s closing. The exhibition will explore the park’s beginnings as a boat landing in 1814, through the Great Depression and the Great Flood of 1937 to the 64-acre attraction’s demise amid the effects of urban flight and racial tensions of the civil rights movement.
Frazier Museum
January 20, 2009
December 27, 2008
Kentucky Dialect
- Bub- what you screw into a light fixture
- Error- you shoot this from a bow
- Flow- carpet is layed on this
- Goggles- she goggles her throat wash every morning
- Grind- plants grow out of this
- Hair- where you are
- Lion- what you are doing if you aren’t telling the truth
- Lord- used for frying and baking
- Pears- she pears to be sickly
- Poach- a place to sit and relax
- Skull- what some kids drop out from
- Spell- come sit a spell
- Ward- umpires have the last one
- Badder- worse
- Dogging- to tell a lie
- Eating Table- dinner table
- Everwhich- take everywhich you want
- Everwhat- everwhat you say is fair
- Hurt- I ain’t hurting for food
- Pay No Mind- to pay no attention
- Sop- gravy
- Take down with- become sick
- Unalike- unlike
- Wash-off- bath
Doctor C.V. Heistand was a real country doctor. At age 78, he was still traveling 30,000 miles a year to treat patients in six Kentucky counties and delivered 5,400 babies since 1898. Below are excerpts from a newspaper article by the Courier Journal Frankfort Bureau about his experiences- I believe to be from 1949.
December 26, 2008
Refundable First-Time Homebuyer Credit
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
Refundable First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Taxpayers who purchased a principal residence April 9, 2008 through June 30, 2009 who have not owned a principal residence in the previous three years may claim a refundable credit equal to 10% of the purchase price. The maximum credit is $7,500.
Taxpayers who purchased a principal residence April 9, 2008 through June 30, 2009 who have not owned a principal residence in the previous three years may claim a refundable credit equal to 10% of the purchase price. The maximum credit is $7,500.
Contact:
Sheila Barrett- Cell (502)876-7518
Voice Mail (502)420-5043
Fax (502)471-5802
September 21, 2008
Waverly Hills Sanitarium, Louisville KY
Waverly Hills was built in the early 1900s and was a tuberculosis hospital. During this time the hospital was one of the most modern in the United States. Many people were cured but more than 63,000 people died there.
There was a body chute that was a tunnel that ran from the hospital down the hill. During the time of when so many people were dying each day from tuberculosis- the bodies were taken out through the tunnel as not to upset the remaining patients.
After closing in the 1960s rumors of ghost and strange sightings began to surface.
Plans for Waverly Hills Sanitarium
(from the Courier Journal)
The rooms may be standard, and the location is a bit out-of-the-way, but Charlie Mattingly thinks his planned hotel in southwest Jefferson County will have a unique draw:
It’s a creepy, old, five-story building with a morgue, a “body chute” and guest rooms where people once lay dying of tuberculosis.
Mattingly and his architect, Kevin Milburn of Urban Designz, are dead serious about turning the old Waverly Hills Sanatorium into a 78-room boutique hotel with a spa, fitness center and meeting space for business groups.
The former hospital off Dixie Highway already is a mecca for ghost hunters, who come by the thousands each year to search for paranormal activity. A film crew from the Travel Channel was there last month, and talk-show host Maury Povich sent a crew this week.
Its haunted history was the focus of a six-hour special on the Sci Fi Channel last fall, and the property regularly turns up on lists of the nation’s most haunted places. Web sites dedicated to the property feature photos of people who mysteriously appear in windows, and audio files of unexplained noises.
Mattingly, who bought the 30-acre property for $225,000 in 2001 with his wife, Tina, said preserving the site’s haunted character will be a key part of what he estimates will be an $18 million renovation. Project details were to be announced to local officials and the media at 4:30 p.m. today.
“My intent is for this to be first class all the way,” Mattingly said of the hotel, which he said could open in early 2010 — assuming financing is arranged.
Mattingly, who grew up in Shively and until recently worked at Ford Motor Co., said that banks “more or less laughed at me” when he first began applying for loans to renovate the property.
But after seven years of upgrades, historical research and architectural studies, he said conversations about financing now are under way with Porter Bancorp, StockYards Bank & Trust, Republic Bancorp and JP Morgan Chase, and he’s confident he’ll be able to start construction late this year.
Milburn said the project should qualify for federal tax credits because of its historical significance. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, though it remains heavily damaged by years of vandalism and decay. Already, Mattingly has had dozens of windows replaced, rooftops and mortar repaired and ceilings insulated. And Milburn said they soon will select contractors to oversee further construction.
Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, called the project “exciting for south Louisville and for the entire city.”
He’s a believer
Mattingly, 49, said he wasn’t a believer in Waverly Hills’ haunted reputation until he bought the place and began recording video inside. He said his films show streaks of light and glowing orbs at times when footage of the surrounding neighborhood was perfectly normal.
For the last year, the Mattinglys have lived on the property, where Tina Mattingly runs the nonprofit Waverly Hills Historical Society. The couple has relatives on both sides of the family who were treated for tuberculosis at the sanatorium.
The main hospital building, with 160,000 square feet, was built in 1926. It sits on a ridge just a few hundred yards from the bustling auto dealers, apartments and restaurants of Dixie Highway, but is shrouded in trees and dense undergrowth.
Signs posted at the entrances warn trespassers, and cameras mounted on the hospital’s exterior are there to catch would-be vandals.
The hotel plans call for a solar-powered electric system, floors made of sustainable materials such as cork or recycled rubber, and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
A parking structure would be built in front of the hospital, with a rooftop garden visible from the long concrete sun porches where patients once spent their days lying in bed. The infamous body chute is an underground steam tunnel that hospital officials used to remove bodies on gurneys, out of sight of the surviving patients.
About 3,000 people tour Waverly Hills annually, with most of them paying a $20 donation. Ghost hunters also can pay $100 each to roam the hallways all night in search of spooky noises and paranormal activity.
Jim Wood, president of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, said ghost tours are a growing tourism draw, and he called Waverly Hills “an architectural wonder.”
But since haunted hotels cater to a niche market, Wood said Waverly Hills may need to attract a wider audience to be a viable business.
That’s the approach at The Lemp Mansion, a bed and breakfast in St. Louis in a home where three members of the Lemp family committed suicide between 1902 and 1949. About two-thirds of the mansion’s guests today come for the haunted history, but spokeswoman Mary Wolff said the property also holds wedding receptions, private parties and other events.
Read more about the ghost investigations at Waverly Hills
READ ABOUT MORE SCARRY PLACES
Baxter Avenue Morgue AKA Vanderdark Morgue
Flood Pictures of Louisville KY & the Ohio River
I thought I would share these photos with you. I found them in a photo album while going through some of my father’s belongings. I think some of the pictures were taken on River Road but not sure of the year or which flood this might have been. The boat in the second picture does look very old.
September 14, 2008
Property For Sale
Click on the link to view information about each home.
3100-3102 Northwestern Parkway
SIDE BY SIDE DUPLEX. Each side has a living room, 2 bedrooms (one without a closet), eat-in kitchen and a full bath. Both units have long term tenants with a year lease. Income from both units- $860. GREAT INVESTMENT PROPERTY.
3104-3106 Northwestern Parkway
NICE SIZE-SIDE BY SIDE DUPLEX. Each side has a living room, 2 bedrooms with closet space, eat-in kitchen and a full bath. Both units have long term tenants with a year lease. Income from both units- $900. GREAT INVESTMENT PROPERTY.
1bedroom house with traditional living room and eat-in kitchen. This would make a nice starter home or investment property.
Traditional shotgun home with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath in Portland. Traditional living room with decorative fireplace and eat-in kitchen. Bathroom has a shower but not tub. The outside has a small deck and fenced backyard. New furnace/AC, new insulated windows, new drywall and fresh paint throughout. This would make a nice starter home or investment property. Owner financing might be available to qualified buyers.
Affordable Accommodations. Check out this low-priced vinyl-siding home in Portland. Great features include 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, welcoming living room with carpeting, kitchen with built in cabinets. Front and back porches, shingle roof, and fenced back yard. Includes gas range, refrigerator, two window air condition units. Within walking distance of local stores and resraurants. Close to parks and schools.
Resources Low? Then you’ll definitely appreciate the affordability of this 2 bedroom/1 bath home in Portland. Has a classic living room with decorative fireplace, carpeting, small laundry room, kitchen with gas range, built-in cabinets, refrigerator, fenced back yard, front porch, and shingle roof. Perfect for first time buyer or investor.
Large In Size, Not Price. Discover all the space and the reasonable price of this 2-story traditional home only a short walk to local stores and restaurants. 1st floor has a large living room, 2 Bedrooms with very large closets, a full bathroom and a sunny kitchen with built in cabinets- also a 6 shelf pantry for storage.
The 2nd floor has separate utilities and can be rented out to a guest. It has 2 bedrooms with closet space, full bathroom plus another kitchen complete with built in cabinets and pantry. There is a large walk in laundry room with plenty of shelves for storage located under the stairs which could be used by both the second and first floor without giving up privacy. Alarm system is located in this room as well as the electrical boxes.
Freshly painted throughout and Lead FREE (seller will provide paperwork)
Many Updates! A Must See!
Check out this cute 2 bedroom (1 bedroom no close), 1 bath home on Portland Ave. Great features include a welcoming living room, kitchen, built in cabinets, large fenced back yard that runs to alley. Seller may leave appliances.
6 Room house on Portland Ave. 3 rooms drywalled and painted. The rest of the first floor is ready to hang drywall. Upstairs has two rooms. This needs attention and is ready for your special touch. This would make a beautiful home with a large yard.
Check This Out! 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath home on Portland Ave. Offers an extra room in front that is ready to open a full service beauty salon that can be used by owner or tenent live- in. (however it can be used for other purposes)This is a great opportunity for anyone starting their own business. Lots of updates. On the corner of 24th and Portland Ave.
Your search ends today at this 1-bedroom/1-bath home in Portland. Offers a welcoming living room, kitchen with built cabinets, laundry, fenced back yard and front yard for the pets.
Click on the link below for any Open Houses
Open Houses
July 20, 2008
Riverview Square- Implosion- Louisville KY
The building at Third and Main Street- standing at nine stories will come down with explosives on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m., July 19th.
Pictures of the implosion
July 16, 2008
The Big Four Bridge, Louisville KY
The original/first Big Four Bridge had a pedestrian walk-way on the west (downriver side). It was opened in 1895 and in use till 1929 when a newly constructed replacement bridge using the same bridge piers replaced it. Everything old is new again- the pedestrian usage is an idea that was put into effect over 100 years ago.
The viaducts or high trestle elevated structures of the Big Four Bridge stretched out for a little over three miles and in three different directions. On the Kentucky side one arm split off crossing over the current skate park and toward Louisville’s Baseball Park-this formerly housed the big four rail freight terminal. The rail touched down just east of the expressway at Hancock Street.
The other split, the lengthier of the two, crossed over dozens of streets with another access ramp at Franklin and Wenzel Streets. It continued airborne for many more blocks until finally touching down at East Main Street and Mellwood Avenue (east of the Old Bourbon Stockyards).
On the Indiana side the elevated structure continued northward withthe exception of the access ramp immediately after crossing the bridge which touched earth about four blocks later.The elevated structure carried on for another 3/4 of a mile northward finally coming to rest just west of The Quartermaster Depot.
Louisville’s elevated trains ran day and night over many homes and businesses They carried all manner of goods, merchandise, passengers, and daily commuters, all of which created a scenario more likened to Chicago or New York.
A high speed lightweight electric train of the Indiana RR crosses the Big Four Bridge some time in the 1930’s. The last electric trains crossed this bridge in October 1939, while electric trains continued on the K&I Bridge until the eve of 1946.
One organized outing by the 4-H clubs in and around Columbus, Indiana chartered three trains, each consisting of 3 cars cars each for a trip into Louisville in September of 1939. The 800 or so farm kids and their escorts then took a river cruise and returned the same day.
Electric trains survived in Louisville until the eve of 1946. The above newspaper advertisement is cira of 1941. Electric rapid transit was smart, swift and a thrifty buy for either group or individual travel.
All information contributed by Ron Schooling- Thanks!
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
A Memorial Building was designed by John Russell Pope for the birthplace site of Abraham Lincoln. In 1909 the cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt and the building was dedicated in 1911 by William Howard Taft.
Almost a hundred years after Thomas Lincoln moved from Sinking Spring Farm, the log cabin was placed inside the Memorial Building. The Memorial Building features 16 windows, 16 rosettes on the ceiling, and 16 fence poles, representing Lincoln being the 16th president. There are 56 steps leading up to the building, representing his age at the time of his death.
READ MORE-
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
July 10, 2008
Thomas Edison House
Louisville’s Thomas Edison House is located in historic Butchertown, a neighborhood which has been known as the center of meat production in this city for over 200 years. It was also one of the areas Thomas Alva Edison called home during the years he lived and worked in Louisville.
Edison came to Louisville in 1866, at the young age of 19, to work as a telegraph key operator. With his skill at receiving telegraph messages, Thomas Edison had little difficulty landing a job with the Western Union located on Second and West Main Street — about eight blocks from this home. Apparently, Louisville was also experiencing a shortage of telegraph operators at the time.
Click To Read More
Perryville, Kentucky
The Battle of Perryville
On October 8, 1862, Watkins and 18,000 Confederates clashed with 20,000 Union troops on the hills outside of Perryville. Nearly 7,500 soldiers were killed and wounded in Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle.
A Trip Down The Kentucky River
Harrodsburg is one of Kentucky’s first permanent settlement. James Harrod, a Pennsylvanian, led 31 men into Kentucky in 1774. They traveled down the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers to present-day Mercer County. On June 16, 1774 they began constructing Harrodsburg.
Boonesborough was an early settlement, famous because of it’s well-known frontiersman Daniel Boone. Judge Daniel Henderson, who went against government orders to negotiate a piece Kentucky land from the Cherokees, founded the town. Because of his considerable knowledge of the area, Henderson employed Daniel Boone to guide a group of settlers. In March of 1775, Boone left Virginia for Kentucky with 35 men, his wife Susannah, and a slave woman. Boone led the company, and hunted for food along the way. Boone traveled through the Cumberland Gap and continued west, suffering attacks by Indians that took the lives of some of the men. Boone chose a site on the south bank of the Kentucky River to settle, and Henderson joined them soon after. Henderson was so pleased with Boone that he allotted him 5,000 acres and named the new settlement after him.
April 14, 2008
February 8, 2008
The Great Flood of 1937
Rising waters, soaring spirits
An excellent account of the 1937 flood
For generations of Louisvillians, the 1937 flood was much more than a historical event. It was a watershed. And hundreds, maybe thousands, grew up on the stories of good humor, courage and endurance that marked the months of January and February 1937.
Rick Bell, who is overseeing the restoration of the Marine Hospital in Portland, has pulled all of these emotions, as well as many, many facts together, quite remarkably, in his new book, The Great Flood of 1937. For those who care about our city, and its history, this is an indispensable book.
(It is also the third significant contribution to local history in recent months by Butler Books of Louisville, which published Louisville Then and Now and Brandeis at 150 in 2006.)
In a comprehensive, yet breezy text, with an outstanding collection of photographs, Bell recreates the weeks of seemingly endless sacrifice. Remember, the flood came at one of the lowest points of the Great Depression. Louisville and other cities already were suffering; the rains of January 1937 only made matters much worse.
Those who lived through the flood, those whose families survived to tell the stories and those for whom it was merely a historical event will welcome The Great Flood of 1937.
(From the Courier-Journal)
January 6, 2008
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark born on November 19, 1752 and later was a soldier from Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. He was the leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war, Clark is best-known for his capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes which greatly weakened British hold in the Northwest Territory and the British soon ceded.
Clark’s achievements came when he was young and before his 30th birthday. Clark had financed the majority of his military campaigns with borrowed funds. Because of record keeping during the war he was unable to claim any of the promises that he was given for his military service. He did however claim thousands of acres of land but he lacked the ability to make money from it.
He grew bitter with age and began to also struggle with alcoholism. He settled in a cabin overlooking the Ohio River in Indiana.
George Rogers Clark suffered a severe stroke in 1809 and fell into an open fireplace. He suffered a burn on one of his legs that later had to be amputated. He was forced to move to Locust Grove so his sister and her husband could take care of him. Clark was the older brother brother of William Clark who was one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
In 1818 he suffered another stoke which proved to be fatal. He was originally buried at Locust Grove but later was reburied at Cave Hill Cemetery in 1889.
Cave Hill Cemetery
Given out at a celebration at George Rogers Clark Park in Indiana.
A Tour of George Rogers Clark Park in Clarksville Indiana
Louisville and Portland Canal
In 1830 the Louisville and Portland Canal opened for business. Until then the only way down the Ohio River was through the Falls of the Ohio. These were a series of rapids that had to navigated by experienced river men. During the course of the rapids the river dropped 26 feet and was a very dangerous trip.
Many boat that carried goods had to unloaded at the 4th Street Wharf in downtown Louisville and taken to the Portland Wharf that was pass the Falls of the Ohio. This took time and as time changed a new way to navigate the river was needed.
The canal had to be dug through rock and cost more than first estimated. It was plagued with finical difficulties all the way through the project until Congress had to invest money for it to be finished. When finished the canal was only 50 feet wide.
Finical difficulties continued for many years after the canal was built and the government ended up owning the canal. In 1960 the Louisville and Portland Canal became the McAlpine Locks and Dam. Since there has been many improvements to the canal has been made. The canal is taken care of by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
To read more about the exciting things happening at McAlpine Locks and Dam today visit:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The changing views of the canal
Shippingport, Kentucky
Shippingport, Kentucky was given to John Campbell in 1785 for his service in the French and Indian War. At that time it became known as Campbell Town. It was sold in 1803 and renamed Shippingport.
The population grew from 98 to over 500 and at one time challenged the 4th Street Wharf in downtown Louisville. At that time a warehouse and mill was built on Shippingport and soon began to export their goods. Elm Tree Garden became a popular spot for horse-racing and was well known. In 1817 a six-story flour mill built because how successful Shippingport had become.
In 1825 the building of the Louisville and Portland Canal and made Shippingport into an island. It soon became known as Shippingport Island and is locally known by that name today.
Over the years the Louisville and Portland Canal was gradually widened to keep up with the steamboats and later barges that carried products from one end of the country to another. A hydroelectric plant was also built on the island as time changed. Slowly residents and businesses began to close and leave.
The area was devastated by the flood of 1937 when most of Louisville was under water. It forced the island to evacuate until the river returned to it’s banks. Many people never returned because their homes were completely destroyed.
In 1958 the government acquired the property by eminent domain to widen the canal. They evicted many families that had lived there for over a 100 years.
STREET NAMES OF SHIPPINGPORT
TARASON AVE.
CHERRY STREET
PLUM STREET
MC HARRY STREET
HEMP STREET
CANAL STREET
CHERRY STREET
PLUM STREET
MC HARRY STREET
HEMP STREET
CANAL STREET
