Louisville, Kentucky is a city with a long and storied history that dates back over two centuries. Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was used as a hunting ground by northern Shawnee and southern Cherokee. The city was founded in 1780 and was named Louisville after King Louis XVI of France. It welcomed 301 settlers that year.
As the largest city in Kentucky, Louisville has a unique combination of the hustle and bustle of a big city and the charm of a small town, making it an ideal destination for visitors. The days of the frontier quickly faded away, wooden houses and forts began to vanish, and Louisville published its first newspaper, the Louisville Gazette, in 1807, its first theater in 1808, and the first building dedicated to a church in 1809. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company (L&N) was established in 1850 by James Guthrie, who also took part in the founding of the University of Louisville. Nowadays, Louisville offers something for everyone with its world-class cultural, sporting and historic sites. One such site is the Muhammad Ali Center which is a great example of how cultural interests can be combined.
The city also takes baseball seriously, and at the Louisville Slugger bat factory you can learn more about a team from the city before the Negro Leagues that dominated all players in the early 20th century before fading into obscurity. Enjoy the best of American music with a Louisville Bats minor league baseball game right next to the park, at the dazzling Louisville Slugger Field. In 1988, the Louisville Falls fountain, the tallest computerized fountain in the world, began operating on the Ohio River in Louisville. Fortunately, many of Louisville's top attractions are located just a few blocks from each other in downtown West Main Street.
The city is addressing this challenge with its Unfiltered Truth collection, a series of eight immersive experiences that explore the black history, heritage and culture that make Louisville what it is today. On the downside, in the early morning hours of February 13, 1981, explosions occurred in the sewers in the southern part of old town Louisville and near the University of Louisville.