Louisville Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Louisville

Poised on the banks of the Ohio River, Kentucky's largest city Louisville blends small-town charm with urban sophistication. The first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island, established in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of the city. Two years later, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, whose soldiers were then aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War.

Early Louisville was a major shipping port with slaves working in a variety of associated trades. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north. During the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union.

In 1914, the City of Louisville passed a racially-based zoning residential zoning code, following Baltimore, Atlanta, and a handful of cities in the Carolinas. In 1929, it completed the lock and dam in the Falls of the Ohio and began referring to itself as "where Northern enterprise and Southern hospitality meet". Between the industrial boom of that year and through the Great Depression, Louisville gained 15,000 new residents, about three percent of them black.

Since the 1980s, many of the city's urban neighborhoods have been revitalized into areas popular with young professionals and college students. As of the late 1990s, Downtown has experienced significant residential, tourist and retail growth, including the addition of major sports complexes such as Louisville Slugger Field, conversion of waterfront industrial sites into Waterfront Park (an 85-acre outdoor space along the Ohio River), and openings of varied museums.

Science and architecture buffs will certainly take interest in the Thomas Edison House and the Old Bank of Louisville building, while those big on sports should consider visiting Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory (showcasing how the famous baseball bats are made), and the Muhammad Ali Center (celebrating the life of Louisville-born, world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali). And if you're keen on whiskey, you might as well be willing to check out Whiskey Row – apart from being the home to KFC, Louisville is known for bourbon that is long associated with Kentucky.

To acquaint yourself with these and other delights of Louisville, a treasure trove of themed attractions, take this self-guided introduction walk.