Louisville City Hall

Infobox_nrhp | name =Louisville City Hall Complex
nrhp_type =

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caption =
location= Louisville, Kentucky
lat_degrees = 38 | lat_minutes = 15 | lat_seconds = 16.43 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 85 | long_minutes = 45 | long_seconds = 38.72 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1873
architect= Multiple
architecture= Beaux Arts, Second Empire, Romanesque
added = September 01, 1976
governing_body = Louisville Metro Government
refnum=76000905 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Louisville City Hall was completed in 1873 to house the city government of Louisville, Kentucky. The structure, at 601 West Jefferson Street in what became Downtown Louisville, is at the center of the city's civic district. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Since the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County, Kentucky, it now primarily houses the offices and chambers of the Louisville Metro Council. The former Jefferson County Courthouse, now known as Louisville Metro Hall, is now primarily home to the offices of the Metro Mayor of Louisville.

History

The site was already Louisville's civic center. The first log courthouse was built across the street in 1784, and a brick courthouse stood on the site from 1811 to 1837. The remaining government buildings were demolished before ground was broken on the city hall in 1870. Before its construction, there was no dedicated building for city government, whose officials used space in the county courthouses. The plan was selected by way of a design competition in 1867, with the winner receiving $500. The contest was won by local architect John Andrewartha.

Indiana Limestone, from White River quarries near Salem, Indiana was used. Construction took place between 1870 and 1873 at a final cost of $464,778. The exterior has been renovated several times but remains basically unchanged, while the interior has been completely remodeled several times.

A Greco-Roman annex building was built just west of City Hall in 1909. It was designed by Cornelius Curtin. An 1891 firehouse, the next building down Jefferson Street, was integrated to the complex in 1937. The building, which housed the city's tax collectors, quickly acquired the name "Sinking Fund Building". By the late 20th century it housed the Inspections, Permits and Licenses Department, which moved out in 2004. All three buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the City Hall Complex in 1976.

Architecture

The building was a striking blend of Italianate and French Second Empire styles, both popular at the time in civic buildings. Designs on the building represented the city's outlook in the post-Civil War era, which was very optimistic. The pediment over the main entrance features a relief of the city seal and a train steaming forward past Southern flora with the inscription, "Progress, 1871". Other engravings, over the tympana of the side windows, depict livestock heads, representing the importance of agriculture in Louisville's early history.

It has three full stories had a raised basement. The most prominent feature is the 195-foot four-faced clock tower with mansard roof, not completed until 1876 after an earlier one burned in 1875. The tower included a three-ton bell which rang until 1964, when the clock broke. It was repaired in 1968 but soon broke again.

Gallery

References

*cite book|title=Introduction to Louisville Architecture|last=Brown|first=Theodore|date=1960
*cite book|title=America's City Halls|last=Lebovich|first=William L.|year=1984

Notes

External links

* [http://www.oldlouisville.com/postcards/Louisville/CityHall.htm Vintage postcards of City Hall]
* [http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/kentucky/louisville/cityhall/cityhall.html Architectural page] - includes detail photos