A Place in Time I 'I the Story of Louisville's Neighborhoods '1 a Publication @The Courierjournal B 1989
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A.Place in Time: City -.- Limerick Page 1 of 4 9I: / / A Place in Time i 'I The story of Louisville's neighborhoods '1 A publication @The CourierJournal B 1989 Limerick GENEROSITY WAS CORNERSTONE UPON WHICH IRISH AND BLACKS BUILT THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD By Pat O'Connor O The Courier-Journal imerick. Its very name brings up thoughts of the Irish -- shamrocks, leprechauns, the wearing of the green. But the Limerick neighborhood was home to a small, close-knit community years before the first Irishman put down roots in the area. Before the Civil War, much of the area was farm land. Starting in the 1830s, a small community of blacks lived in the area between Broadway and Kentucky Street. Many were slaves who labored on a large plantation at Seventh and Kentucky streets; others were free blacks who were household servants. In 1858, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad bought the Kentucky Locomotive Works at 10th and Kentucky streets for $80,000, and within a decade, the railroad had built repair shops and a planing mill. At about that time, many Irish workers began moving their families from Portland into Limerick, nearer their jobs. Typically, they lived in modest brick or wood-fiarne houses or shotgun cottages, which were later replaced by the three-story brick and stone structures that line the streets today. L & N also hired black laborers, who lived with their families in homes in alleys behind streets. But fi-om the mid- 19th century until about 1905, Limerick was known as the city's predominant Irish neighborhood. Some historic accounts credit Tom Reilly, an early resident, with giving the neighborhood its name, and others believe it was named for the county or city of Limerick, which is on Ireland's west coast. At about the same time that the Irish began settling there, the Dominican priests were seeking a Louisville site for a new parish. The sudden influx of Irish Catholics there prompted them, in 1865, to purchase three acres from Sixth to Seventh streets and from St. Catherine Street to about halfway to Oak Street. A local architect, H. P. Bradshaw, designed the limestone St. Louis Bertrand H A Place in Time: City -- Limerick Page 2 of 4 I! I Church, which was completed in 1872 at 1104 S. Sixth St. Its late-13th-century Edwardian English Gothic style was a popular one for churches constructed in the 19th century. - '-j Irish residents' social life revolved around the church, which was heavily in debt for its construction. Fairs, bazaars, card parties and "outright begging" helped the parish pay the debt by 1914. Early Irish and black Limerick residents were known for their generous spirit. The Irish "gave freely to every cause," as witnessed by their labor in building St. Louis Bertrand Church and at church picnics and fairs, according to one recollection in the church's Golden Jubilee book, written in 1916. "Old Mrs. Moran would stop a priest on the street, put down her milk cans and serve him to a drink of buttermilk. Mary and Tom Brown would come in with their roll of butter and can of milk for the Sisters' dinner. Mrs. Kennedy would send her r pitcher of soup and loaf of fresh bread," wrote Sister Vincentia Maguire in the I collection. Black residents helped others who were less fortunate by sewing "patching" coats. The patching of coats was started in the 1940s by members of Ebenezer Baptist Church when it was located at 71 1 W. St. Catherine St., where Mount Moriah Baptist Church is today. (Ebenezer has since moved to 1057 S. 28th St.) Colorful, 2-inch patches would be sewn on a coat and stuffed with money, and when the coat was completely covered with patches, it was given to a poor family. Besides St. Louis Bertrand, another significant Limerick institution was Central \ ) Colored High School, built in 1873, at the southeast corner of Sixth and Kentucky streets. Later, the high school moved to Ninth and Magazine streets and was renamed the Mary D. Hill School. Also, the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institution, the state's first institute of higher education for blacks, was opened in Limerick in 1879 by the General Association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky. The school, between Kentucky, Zane, Seventh and Eighth streets, was established to train young men as ministers. In 1884, the school's name was changed to State 1 University of Louisville, offering theology, medicine, education and law degrees. 1 Many of Kentucky's first black educators earned degrees there. 1' State University changed its name to Simmons University in the 1920s, in honor of William J. Simmons, who was university president from 1880 to 1894. Financial problems during the Depression forced the university to sell its property to the University of Louisville and move to 18th and Dumesnil streets, where the Simmons Bible College trains ministers today. In 1931, the university set up the Louisville Municipal College for blacks on the campus, making it the third municipally supported liberal arts college in the I country. But the college only operated until 1951, when the university decided to ,> ! A Place in Time: City -- Limerick Page 3 of 4 integrate its programs. I Meanwhile, the Limerick neighborhood had entered a period of transition. The L ' & N Railroad had moved its repair shops in 1905 to the Highland Park neighborhood in South Louisville. Many Irish laborers followed, and younger Irish-Americans, many of whom had become craftsmen, white-collar workers, lawyers and doctors, moved to more affluent areas. As the Irish left, blacks moved from their alley homes to the front of the streets, where they could own a cottage. They began referring to their neighborhood as "Limbrick." In more recent years, hundreds of people have attended the annual summer Limbrick Festival, which started three years ago as a neighborhood reunion. " .. Limerick today is a blend of people from all incomes and ethnic backgrounds. Deney Priddy, president of the Limerick Neighborhood Association, said about half the residents are senior citizens but younger people are buying homes there. The 1980 U.S. Census figures showed that 57 percent of the neighborhood's residents were black, 39 percent were white, and the remaining residents were made up of American Indians, Eskimos or Aleuts, Asians or Pacific Islanders and people of Spanish origin. Some Irish-Americans remain frequent visitors to St. Louis Bertrand. The Rev. Mark Heath, its pastor, estimates that about 30 percent of his parishioners are Irish- Americans from the metropolitan area. I Beautification programs are now under way in the area. Members of the i neighborhood association are planting fall flowers at the traffic triangle by Fifth and Kentucky streets, and next spring, more seasonal flowers will be planted. Concrete benches have recently been placed at sites in the neighborhood for residents waiting for the bus or for those just wanting to rest on a shopping trip before going home. i Priddy said association members talk with people considering a move within the city, including those being displaced by the Standiford Field airport expansion project, telling them to think about Limerick. "Our neighborhood has public transit at its doorstep, and there's not a big problem with getting to and from jobs during bad winter weather," said Priddy. "We are close to the Kentucky Arts Center, fabulous restaurants and other downtown activities. "People are changing here," he said, "but they are willing to hold onto the neighborhood's history. " DID YOU KNOW: I! A Place in Time: City -- Limerick Page 4 of 4 I' I! Louisville's Irish community had its own weekly newspaper, The Kentucky Irish American, beginning in 1898. The newspaper was founded by Limerick resident John Bany; his sons, Mike and Joe, continued it until 1968. ' The Louisville Colonels baseball team played at Eclipse Park, at the northwest corner of Seventh and Kentucky streets, in the early 1900s. The Yankees, with Babe Ruth, played exhibition games there. During the Civil War, Union military forces built an arsenal at the northeast I comer of Seventh and St. Catherine streets. Barracks were built along Seventh Street between St. Catherine and Oak streets. A Place in Time: City -- Old Louisville Page 1 of 4 ! I / I! I A Place in Time The story of Louisville's neighborhoods i L).l Apublication of The Courie~Journa,@1989 I I Old Louisville 4P SOUTHERN EXPOSITION BROUGHT A WEALTH OF GROWTH; HOMES STAND AS A RICH MIX OF STYLISH DIFFERENCES By John C. Pillow O The Courier-Journal r' .. n an attempt to win friends and influence people in 1772, Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, awarded more than 30 land grants in the vicinity of the Falls of the Ohio. The recipients were prominent Virginians whose favor Dunmore needed to further his own ambitions. Among them were Arthur Campbell, Thomas Bowyer and Henry Harrison, who received approximately 1,000 acres each. Their claims included most of an area now known as Old Louisville, bounded by Broadway, Eastern Parkway, Interstate 65 and Ninth Street. As the name indicates, the neighborhood's origins coincide with those of Louisville itself. However, in recent decades it has taken on a distinctive personality -- an almost paradoxical identity. Some Old Louisville residents are wealthy, others barely make ends meet. Jefferson County Judge-Executive Harvey Sloane lives on South Fourth Street, only a few blocks away from a Salvation Army shelter for homeless people on South Brook Street. St. James Court remains one of the city's most prestigious addresses, but census data shows the Old Louisville area has consistently had a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the city.