{{short description|Near Ohio River, Kentucky, U.S. (1833–1938)}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2024|cs1-dates=ly}}{{use American English|date=January 2024}} alt=Louisville_Hotel,_Louisville,_KY._(NBY_429576)|thumb|Louisville Hotel, {{Circa|1900}} The '''Louisville Hotel''' on Main Street, between Sixth and Seventh, in Louisville, Kentucky, United States was a major hotel of that city in the 19th and early 20th centuries, originally built in a Greek Revival style from a design by Hugh Roland.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ramage |first1=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FWot7ikWqMC&dq=%22Louisville+Hotel%22+Kentucky+%22civil+war%22&pg=PA80 |title=Kentucky Rising Democracy, Slavery, and Culture from the Early Republic to the Civil War |last2=Watkins |first2=Andrea S. |date=November 2011 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-3440-6 |pages=79–80}}</ref> The hotel was constructed in 1833, and survived until 1938, with the building enduring as a derelict shell until it was demolished in 1949 to make way for a parking lot.<ref name=":0" />
== History == The hotel opened in 1833.<ref name=":0" /> The original footprint of the building was {{Convert|15000|ft2}}.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1833-11-23 |title=Louisville Hotel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/kentucky-gazette-louisville-hotel/138546390/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=Kentucky Gazette |pages=3}}</ref> The entrance steps led to a rotunda measuring {{Convert|22|ft}} in diameter,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1941-06-15 |title=Dust Hides Grandeur That Once Was the Louisville Hotel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-dust-hides-grandeur/138551252/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Courier-Journal |pages=75}}</ref> which was lit by a skylight, and from which parlors, barrooms, and baggage rooms radiated and were immediately accessible.<ref name=":1" /> The main floor hosted small businesses, including a stagecoach depot, a cigar shop, a saloon, clothiers, and a "lottery office."<ref name=":2" /> In its heyday the hotel was patronized by "planters, soldiers, military leaders, and theater people,"<ref name=":2" /> and was admired for its "lustrous black-walnut paneling, cut-glass chandelier, and large oil paintings."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1949-10-06 |title=Old Louisville Hotel, Gay '90s Showplace, To Be Razed to Make Way for Parking |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-old-louisville-hotel/138546015/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Courier-Journal |pages=25}}</ref> Louisville slave trader Matthew Garrison could be reached at the hotel in 1841.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1841-07-08 |title=Negroes Wanted |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-negroes-wanted/148062508/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |work=The Courier-Journal |pages=3}}</ref>
On January 26, 1853, the building caught fire and "before the flames could be arrested the whole front building was destroyed except the lower floor. The loss is estimated at {{USD|10,000|1853}}."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1853-01-26 |title=Destruction of the Louisville Hotel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mississippi-free-trader-destruction-of-t/138556525/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=Mississippi Free Trader |pages=3}}</ref> An 1853 expansion called the "Sixth Street ell" in later years became known as the first Seelbach Hotel.<ref name=":0" /> The building originally had 10 Ionic columns that were removed during this remodel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Findling |first=John E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49qc4LEJFRoC&dq=%22Louisville+Hotel%22&pg=PA11 |title=Louisville |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-6788-4 |language=en}}</ref> During the course of the renovation, a wall in the older section of the building collapsed, killing a construction worker, and a homeless child (who had apparently been scavenging for firewood).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1856-02-02 |title=Kentucky, Louisville Hotel Collapses |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-louisville-daily-courier-kentucky-l/18845806/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Louisville Daily Courier |pages=2}}</ref> After the completion, in 1856, of the remodel designed by architect Isaiah Rogers<ref>{{Cite news |date=1856-01-18 |title=Kentucky, Louisville - Louisville Hotel, Isaiah Rogers, Architect |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-louisville-daily-courier-kentucky-l/18845674/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Louisville Daily Courier |pages=2}}</ref> (under direction of proprietors Kean, Stedman & Co.) the hotel had expanded from 60 to 220 rooms within five stories.<ref name=":2" />
thumb|Louisville Hotel scenes {{circa|1886}} Circa 1860 the Louisville Hotel had 23 employees who were "hired out" slaves{{mdash}}their wages, in whole or in part, typically accrued to their legal owners.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |pages= 554 (Louisville Hotel entry by George H. Yater), 826 ("hired-out" enslaved black employees) | isbn=978-0-8131-4974-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7EeBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Louisville+Hotel%22+Kentucky+%22civil+war%22&pg=PA826 | last1=Kleber | first1=John E. | date=11 July 2014 | id ={{Project MUSE|37208|type=book}} |publisher=University Press of Kentucky }}</ref> A "grand reception" was held at the Louisville Hotel in September 1866 when Louisville was a stop on U.S. President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle electioneering tour.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1866-09-12 |title=Our President |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-louisville-daily-courier-our-preside/138552661/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Louisville Daily Courier |pages=1}}</ref> After a redecoration in 1874, "through the windows immediately behind the statues are seen fine specimen plants of magnolias, oleanders, and myrtles in the court."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1874-04-22 |title=The Louisville Hotel—Handsome Improvements |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/nashville-union-and-american-the-louisvi/138550429/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=Nashville Union and American |pages=3}}</ref>
The building was hit by the 1890 tornado, which ripped off the roof.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1890-04-03 |title=A Deadly Cyclone |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-memphis-weekly-avalanche-a-deadly-cy/138545847/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |work=The Memphis Weekly Avalanche |pages=1}}</ref> Residents of the building next door suffered several casualties.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McQueen |first=Keven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHd0CQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Louisville+Hotel%22&pg=PT33 |title=The Great Louisville Tornado of 1890 |date=2016-11-07 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-61423-160-8 |pages=no pag |language=en}}</ref> In the late 19th century, declining riverboat traffic led to a decline in the hotel's fortunes.<ref name=":2" /> As of 1915, the hotel had 300 guest rooms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Robert Wood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8xD0MvtO3kC&dq=%22Louisville+Hotel%22&pg=PA20 |title=Book of Louisville and Kentucky: Edition 1915, with Pictures |date=1915 |publisher=Louisville Convention and Publicity League |language=en}}</ref> The Louisville Hotel was closed to business in 1938, and in 1939 several associated outbuildings were demolished.<ref name=":2" /> The Louisville ''Courier-Journal'' described the building's condition in 1941:<ref name=":2" />
{{Blockquote|text=Boxes and scraps fill the lobby and the famous chandelier is gone, having fallen and been destroyed several years ago, we were told. The thick and rich carpets, over which leading Americans and, later, thousands of traveling salesmen walked as the hotel dropped from a mecca for the elite to a commercial hotel, are badly worn and filled with dust. The famous and valuable art-glass windows, shipped here from Europe years ago, are still in place, but badly worn from years of neglect. The solid brass railing, formerly a picture of beauty, is so thick with dust that it can't be identified.}}
== See also == * {{slink|Galt House|Original Galt House}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Cite web |last=Klayko |first=Branden |date=2010-01-27 |title=Evolving City: West Main Street And The Louisville Hotel |url=https://brokensidewalk.com/2010/evolving-city-louisville-hotel/ |website=Broken Sidewalk |language=en-US}}
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Category:1833 establishments in Kentucky Category:1938 disestablishments in Kentucky Category:19th-century buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky Category:Hotels established in 1833 Category:Hotels disestablished in 1938 Category:Hotels in Louisville, Kentucky Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1833 Category:Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1949