WDC News 2010
May 11, 2010
Free Waterfront Walking Tours Reveal Louisville's River Heritage
Elephants, clowns and acrobats — oh my!
Louisville, KY – The Waterfront Development Corporation is offering a series of free waterfront walking tours, which will be led by local historian Rick Bell. The 90-minute tours begin the weekend of May 15-16 and will be offered one weekend each month through September, with one tour offered on Saturday morning and the other on Sunday afternoon.
Louisville’s riverfront was once the city’s bustling center of commerce. At one point, more than 1,000 steamboats landed at the Louisville wharf annually; more than 25,000,000 tons of freight shipped from the wharf in one year; and Louisville was ranked the 10th largest city in the U.S. Bell will weave this working history with stories like these:
- The Floating Palace, a massive showboat featuring a traveling circus and menagerie, regularly docked at the Louisville Wharf and displayed giraffes, elephants, equestrians, clowns and acrobats;
- In 1893, the Ohio River froze for two weeks. Over 10,000 people crossed the ice to The North Pole Exchange, a temporary saloon which opened mid-river at the foot of Shelby Street and provided hot toddies, sausages, and a small orchestra for dancers.
- More than 100,000 people celebrated the opening of the Municipal Bridge (Second Street Bridge) with a massive fireworks exhibition, concert and air show. (Sound familiar?) The date: October 29, 1929, the same day as the great Stock Market Crash.
- Two years before Abraham Lincoln stood on the Louisville wharf in 1841 and witnessed shackled slaves being shipped downriver, more than fifty newly liberated slaves began their voyage back to Africa and the new nation of Liberia.
Bell will also cover more recent history, including the development of Waterfront Park.
Tours will begin on the wharf at Fourth Street in front of the Belle of Louisville and continue east through Waterfront Park, ending at the Lincoln Memorial. The tours are scheduled for the following weekends: May 15-16, June 19-20, July 17-18, August 21-22, and September 25-26. Saturday tours are from 10:00-11:30 a.m. and Sunday tours are from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and bring drinking water and sunscreen. Paid parking is available in the Blue Lot (Wharf); free parking is available in the park. More details and a link to a park map are available at www.louisvillewaterfront.com/events.
Elephants, clowns and acrobats — oh my!
Louisville, KY – The Waterfront Development Corporation is offering a series of free waterfront walking tours, which will be led by local historian Rick Bell. The 90-minute tours begin the weekend of May 15-16 and will be offered one weekend each month through September, with one tour offered on Saturday morning and the other on Sunday afternoon.
Louisville’s riverfront was once the city’s bustling center of commerce. At one point, more than 1,000 steamboats landed at the Louisville wharf annually; more than 25,000,000 tons of freight shipped from the wharf in one year; and Louisville was ranked the 10th largest city in the U.S. Bell will weave this working history with stories like these:
- The Floating Palace, a massive showboat featuring a traveling circus and menagerie, regularly docked at the Louisville Wharf and displayed giraffes, elephants, equestrians, clowns and acrobats;
- In 1893, the Ohio River froze for two weeks. Over 10,000 people crossed the ice to The North Pole Exchange, a temporary saloon which opened mid-river at the foot of Shelby Street and provided hot toddies, sausages, and a small orchestra for dancers.
- More than 100,000 people celebrated the opening of the Municipal Bridge (Second Street Bridge) with a massive fireworks exhibition, concert and air show. (Sound familiar?) The date: October 29, 1929, the same day as the great Stock Market Crash.
- Two years before Abraham Lincoln stood on the Louisville wharf in 1841 and witnessed shackled slaves being shipped downriver, more than fifty newly liberated slaves began their voyage back to Africa and the new nation of Liberia.
Bell will also cover more recent history, including the development of Waterfront Park.
Tours will begin on the wharf at Fourth Street in front of the Belle of Louisville and continue east through Waterfront Park, ending at the Lincoln Memorial. The tours are scheduled for the following weekends: May 15-16, June 19-20, July 17-18, August 21-22, and September 25-26. Saturday tours are from 10:00-11:30 a.m. and Sunday tours are from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and bring drinking water and sunscreen. Paid parking is available in the Blue Lot (Wharf); free parking is available in the park. More details and a link to a park map are available at www.louisvillewaterfront.com/events.