Louisville is a city of landmarks — so much so that we’ve even lost a few over the years.
And as landmarks go, you can’t do much better than the tallest building in town. That’s why this lost Louisville landmark is worth a look back — and up.
Built in 1890, the Columbia Building was Louisville’s first skyscraper, standing as the tallest structure in Derby City for a decade.
Located at the northwest corner of the intersection of 4th + Main Streets, the building was constructed at a cost of $1 million — that’s ~$35 million in today’s money. It was built just five years after the world’s first skyscraper, the Chicago Home Insurance Building.
Designed by Cornelius Curtin — who also designed City Hall’s annex in 1909 — its red sandstone Richardsonian Romanesque facade towered over everything around it.
It stood at a height of 10 stories and 162 feet — today, Louisville’s tallest building, 400 West Market, is 549-ft, and 35-stories tall. If the Columbia Building were still around, it would be around the 35th-tallest building in Derby City.
In its heyday, the Columbia Building was a focal point of Louisville’s bourbon industry — home to distillery offices, stave manufacturers, grain companies, and whiskey brokers — as well as other industries, with offices for lawyers, engineers, and architects.
The Columbia Building was torn down in 1966 amid urban renewal.
Photo courtesty ASC, UofL
The Columbia Building was demolished in 1966 and replaced in 1972 by a 24-story, 312-ft tall tower in the Modernist International style. Today, the only thing that remains is its cornerstone and a historical marker.
