They don’t call it River City for nothing.
The Ohio River runs through Louisville’s history from the very beginning. Some of the earliest settlements that would become Louisville formed where river traffic was forced to travel by land around the Falls of the Ohio, reembarking in what is now the Portland neighborhood.
In the 1800s and early 1900s, the downtown waterfront was mostly home to industrial buildings and junkyards. River and railroad traffic was prolific, but use of the local waterfront was made nearly impossible by pollution + infrastructure.
This 1922 photo shows a Louisville waterfront shrouded in smoke from steamships + smokestacks.
Photo courtesy ASC, UofL
One of the first proposals to improve the waterfront came in the 1930s from urban planner Harland Bartholomew, but Waterfront Park as we know it started in 1986 with cooperation between Jefferson County, the City of Louisville, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Development unfolded in three distinct phases over ~30 years.
- Phase I broke ground in 1991 and saw the construction of the Great Lawn, Wharf and Festival Plaza, and Harbor Lawn.
- Phase II lasted until 2004 and added the Brown Forman Amphitheater and its lawn along with more walking paths, picnic, and play areas.
- Phase III ended about 10 years ago with renovations on the Big Four Bridge and its lawn, the Lincoln Memorial (featuring the no-longer-hatless statue by Ed Hamilton), and a swing garden.
Looking downstream
Waterfront Park is still expanding, and it’s not the only development slated for the Derby City waterfront in coming years. Phase IV of construction is currently underway, extending Waterfront Park into the Russell and Portland neighborhoods.
In addition to Waterfront Park expansions, the Downtown Partnership unveiled its Downtown Development Strategy earlier this year that includes a proposed “large-scale activation” for The Belvedere. The 2024-2025 Louisville budget allocates $10 million to that project.
