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12 Louisville mysteries and legends

Learn about the unexplained and curious events in Derby City.

Iron gate with headstones in the background.

A 19th-century cemetery is in a parking lot of Hobby Lobby.

Photo by LOUtoday

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Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, bourbon, and Kentucky Fried Chicken helped create the tapestry of Louisville. But the city’s lesser known, more mysterious marvels weave in stories that “keep Louisville weird.”

Here are 12 Louisville (mostly solved) mysteries, legends, and strange phenomena that give “Unsolved Mysteries” host Robert Stack a run for his money.

Plane crash at Headliners Music Hall

Covered in graffiti and set into the hillside of this Irish Hill music venue, the wreckage from the Cliffhangers plane crash is a 30+ year-old legend that keeps visitors guessing. Was there more to a bar’s elaborate marketing gimmick?

High-speed UFO chase

During a routine helicopter patrol in 1993, two Jefferson County police officers engaged in a two-minute chase with a pear-shaped object the size of a basketball moving at 100 mph.

Parking lot cemetery

Most people never notice the row of hedges in the middle of the Springs Shopping Center in St. Matthews — but behind the tall greenery lies a 19th-century graveyard.

The opening of two gray stone caverns in a grass covered hill.

The two tunnels open up to the first floor of the two-story deck patio overlooking LOU.

Photo by LOUtoday

Creepy caves

Gravely Brewing Co. isn’t just home to music-themed beer. It also has two grass-covered tunnels lurking in its backyard.

Monsters, goblins, and beasts, oh my

Meet the legendary cryptids of Derby City, including the Demon Leaper of Walnut Street Baptist Church.

Hotel ghosts

Some guests never leave the Seelbach Hilton Hotel.

LOUtoday: Caufield's Novelty through the years

Caufield’s Novelty as it is today at 1006 W. Main St.

Photo courtesy of Caufield’s Novelty

World’s largest vampire bat

This 36-ft tall bat has been hanging upside down on the side of a 100-year-old novelty shop for over 20 years.

Knotted tree with various trinkets.

See the Witches’ Tree on the corner of 6th Street and Park Avenue in Old Louisville.

Photo by LOUtoday

A wicked witch tree

A knotted and gnarly tree in Old Louisville conjures up a stormy tale of witchcraft.

An ancient Egyptian mummy

Having floated out of her coffin in 1937, Then-Hotep has made quite the journey to her final resting place inside the Kentucky Science Center.

The Chicken Steps

The Clifton neighborhood is home to a few scant remnants of a Civil War fort — along with this unusually named landmark.

LOUtoday_OSRS

The design of the posters translates to the name of local artist collective Often Seen Rarely Spoken.

Photo by LOUtoday

A cryptic sign

You’ve probably seen this mysterious symbol around town on posters and stickers. Meet the LOU + Cincy-based artist collective behind this sigil and a number of murals around Derby City.

A missing painting

This painting went missing after being mistakenly donated to a Goodwill — it was found months later and returned to its rightful home.

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