About Us
About Louisville
Our corporate offices are located in Louisville, Kentucky. So, we thought we'd share a few facts with you.
Louisville, Kentucky's largest city, was established in 1778. It was was named for French King Louis XVI in appreciation of French aid during the Revolution. Growing very slowly at first, it suffered through occasional floods, malarial-type infections, and the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Not until 1828 (with a population of nearly 10,000) did Louisville get around to its official incorporation as a city. From the time of its first organization as a village, February 7, 1781, until its incorporation as a city, it had been governed by trustees, but when its growth and commercial importance demanded the change of its government, it was erected into a city of five wards and placed under the government of a mayor and city council. The first town charter was signed on the 13th day of February, 1828.
The arrival of the first steamboat in Louisville in 1811 signaled a new age of growth. With river traffic greatly improved, the opening of the Portland Canal in 1830, and the large inflow of German and Irish immigrants in the 1840's, the city's population began to explode, reaching 43,000 in 1850, placing Louisville among the top twelve cities in size in America and making Louisville a commercial hub for the South and West. As the city's population and economy advanced, so did its institutions. The University of Louisville traces its roots to 1798 when the Jefferson Seminary was established.
The incorporated city of Louisville itself covers 62.5 square miles.
(From: Memorial History of Louisville, 1896, Volume 1, page 77 by J. Stoddard Johnson.)
