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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - USA
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city and the 16th largest city of the
United States. The City of Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers
Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France. Louisville is most famous
as the home of the Kentucky Derby (capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby
Festival), the most widely watched event in American horse racing.
Louisville sits on the Kentucky-Indiana border at the only natural obstacle
in the Ohio River, the Falls of the Ohio. Because of its proximity to
Indiana, the area around Louisville is sometimes referred to as Kentuckiana.
As of the 2000 census, Louisville had a total
population of 256,231. However, in 2003, the city and Jefferson County
merged into a single government named Louisville-Jefferson County Metro
Government (official long form) and Louisville Metro (official short form),
resulting in a city populated with approximately 700,000 residents. The
Louisville metropolitan area (not to be confused with Louisville Metro) is
the largest in Kentucky, and the metropolitan population of 1.5 million
includes the southern Indiana counties of Clark, Floyd, Washington and
Harrison.
Pronunciation
Most long-time residents pronounce the city's name as Loo-uh-vul. Often this
degrades further into Lu-vul, where the first "u" is close to a schwa "e".
The name is often pronounced far back in the mouth, in the top of the throat.
The standard English pronunciation, however, is Loo'ee-vil (referring to
King Louis XVI), which is often utilized by political leaders and the media.
No matter how Louisville is pronounced, the "s" is always silent.
The variability of the local pronunciation of Louisville's name can perhaps
be laid at the feet of the city's location on the border between the North
and South of the United States. Louisville's diverse population has
traditionally represented elements of both Northern and Southern culture.
Regional migration patterns and the homogenization of dialect due to
electronic media also may be responsible for the incidence of native-born
Louisvillians adopting or affecting the standard English pronunciation
Loo'ee-vil.
Government
Louisville is governed by a mayor and Metro Council. The current mayor is
Jerry E. Abramson. The Metro Council consists of 26 seats corresponding to
26 districts apportioned by population throughout the area of Louisville
Metro. Half (13) of the seats come up for re-election every two years.
The Official Seal of the City of Louisville, no longer used following the
formation of a consolidated city-county government in 2003, reflected its
history and heritage in the fleur-de-lis representing French aid given
during the Revolutionary War, and the thirteen stars signify the original
colonies. It was designed by legendary Austrian typographer Victor Hammer.
The new seal of the consolidated government retains the fleur-de-lis, but
has only two stars, one representing the city and the other the county.
Local economy
Louisville is home to Louisville International Airport as well as several
major corporations:
Hillerich & Bradsby (known for "Louisville Slugger" baseball bats)
Humana Inc.
Papa John's Pizza
Yum! (owners of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's, and A & W
Restaurants; formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, successor to KFC
Corporation)
Also located in Louisville are two major Ford plants, a major R. J. Reynolds
cigarette factory, and UPS's domestic air hub.
The local daily newspaper is The Courier-Journal. Local weekly newspapers
include Snitch Newsweekly and Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO).
Education
Louisville is home to the University of Louisville, Spalding University,
Sullivan University, Bellarmine University, and Jefferson Community College
(part of the University of Kentucky system).
The public school system includes duPont Manual Magnet High School and
Louisville Male High School. There are a variety of special schools in the
system, including a small, centrally-located K-12 school, the Brown School.
Sports
College basketball is very popular in greater Louisville; Louisville and the
nearby University of Kentucky in Lexington have won a combined nine national
titles (two at U of L and seven at UK), and four of the 25 winningest NCAA
Division I teams are located in or near the city. Loyalties in the immediate
Louisville area are fairly evenly divided between U of L and UK, with
substantial numbers of Indiana and Purdue fans on the Indiana side of the
river.
Local attractions
Local attractions include:
Churchill Downs thoroughbred race track
Minor League Baseball's "Louisville Bats"
Louisville Slugger Museum
Muhammad Ali Museum
Kentucky Center for the Arts
JB Speed Art Museum
Cave Hill Cemetery
Myriad spacious city parks, several designed by Frederick Law Olmsted;
Cherokee Park is a distinctive example
Seelbach Hotel and Camberley-Brown Hotel
Old Louisville (an historic homes district)
Highlands area along Bardstown Road, which features small, distinctive shops
and restaurants
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
Louisville Science Center
Louisville Zoo
Belle of Louisville, the oldest Mississippi-style steamboat in operation on
the inland waterways of the U.S. (Built 1914-1915 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania for service in Memphis, Tennessee as the Idlewild, renamed
Avalon in 1948, purchased by Jefferson County and renamed Belle of
Louisville in 1962.)
Historic Locust Grove farm, home of George Rogers Clark
Louisville Extreme Park
Jefferson Memorial Forest, in the Knobs area (southern Jefferson County)
Fourth Street Live, a downtown entertainment and shopping complex
Nearby, in Southern Indiana, attractions include:
Falls of the Ohio Museum in Clarksville, featuring the oldest exposed
Devonian fossil beds in the United States
Howard Steamboat Museum (http://www.steamboatmuseum.org/) in Jeffersonville
Louisville also has several important genealogical collections, at the
Filson Club, the Sons of the American Revolution national library, and at
the Louisville Free Public Library.
Famous Louisvillians
Famous Louisvillians include:
Muhammad Ali
Ned Beatty
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
Foster Brooks
Lance Burton
George Rogers Clark
William Conrad
Tom Cruise
Bob Edwards
Lionel Hampton
Telma Hopkins
Paul Hornung
Victor Mature
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (Majority Whip)
Pee Wee Reese
Don Rosa
Diane Sawyer
Phil Simms
U.S. President Zachary Taylor
Hunter S. Thompson
Johnny Unitas
Gus Van Sant
Jack Warden
60 Minutes tobacco informant Jeffrey Wigand
Geography
Louisville is located at 38°13'44" North, 85°44'58" West (38.228870,
-85.749534)1.
Note: All geographic data applies to the former City of Louisville as it
existed prior to the creation of Louisville Metro on January 6, 2003.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
172.6 km˛ (66.7 mi˛). 160.9 km˛ (62.1 mi˛) of it is land and 11.7 km˛ (4.5
mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 6.80% water.
Demographics
Note: All demographics apply to the former City of Louisville as it existed
prior to the creation of Louisville Metro on January 6, 2003. For
demographics of Louisville Metro, see Jefferson County, Kentucky.
As of the census of 2000, there are 256,231 people, 111,414 households, and
61,389 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,592.6/km˛
(4,124.9/mi˛). There are 121,275 housing units at an average density of
753.8/km˛ (1,952.3/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 62.94% White,
33.01% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.45% Asian, 0.04% Pacific
Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. 1.86% of
the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 111,414 households out of which 25.7% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 31.6% are married couples living together, 19.2%
have a female householder with no husband present, and 44.9% are
non-families. 37.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.4%
have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average
household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 2.97.
The age distribution is: 23.7% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24,
30.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who are 65 years of age
or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 89.7
males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $28,843, and the median
income for a family is $36,696. Males have a median income of $30,608 versus
$24,439 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,193. 21.6% of
the population and 17.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the
total people living in poverty, 33.5% are under the age of 18 and 13.2% are
65 or older.
Sister Cities
Louisville is twinned with the following cities:
Montpellier, France
Quito, Ecuador
Mainz, Germany
La Plata, Argentina
Tamale, Ghana
Perm, Russia
Trivia
One third of the bourbon in the U.S. comes from Louisville.
Both the lyrics and the melody of Happy Birthday to You are reported to have
been written by Louisvillians in the late 19th century.
Louisville is the only city in the United States to have two
consecutively-numbered three-digit highways: I-264 and I-265.
90% of the United States' disco balls are made in Louisville at National
Products, Inc.
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