In 1946, the factory was sold to International Harvester, which began large-scale production of tractors and agricultural equipment. The Muhammad Ali Center opened November 2005 in "Museum Row" and features Louisville native Muhammad Ali's boxing memorabilia. The Louisville area is near several other urban areas, especially Frankfort, Kentucky (the state's capital), Cincinnati, Ohio (the two cities' metropolitan statistical areas almost border each other), Lexington, Kentucky, and the Indianapolis, Indiana area (especially Columbus, Indiana, to the north of Southern Indiana). Cellist Ben Sollee splits his time between Louisville and Lexington. [101][102] Cherokee Park, one of the most visited parks in the nation,[103] features a 2.6-mile (4.2 km) mixed-use loop and many well-known landscaping and architectural features including the Hogan's Fountain Pavilion. The downtown business district of Louisville is located immediately south of the Ohio River and southeast of the Falls of the Ohio. Brands. Another art-related event that occurs every month is the First Friday Hop. From 2005 to 2012, Jewish Hospital merged with two Kentucky-based Catholic healthcare systems to form KentuckyOne Health, which later in 2012 announced a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital. [53] In 2012, Louisville had the fourth-hottest summer on record, with the temperature rising up to 106 °F (41 °C) in July and the June all-time monthly record high temperature being broken on two consecutive days. Southeast Christian Church, with its main campus in Middletown and three others in the surrounding region, is, as of 2013[update], the seventh-largest church in the United States. The city of Shively in western Jefferson County possesses an independent fire department that uses the same dispatch and radio channels as Louisville Fire and Rescue. The 135,421 Roman Catholic Louisvillians are part of the Archdiocese of Louisville, covering 24 counties in central Kentucky, and consisting of 121 parishes and missions spread over 8,124 square miles (21,040 km2). The primary law enforcement agencies are the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO). Two bridges carry I‑64 and I‑65 over the Ohio River, and a third automobile bridge carries non-interstate traffic, including bicyclists and pedestrians. The other, named the Lewis and Clark Bridge, connects I‑265 between the portions located in southeast Clark County, Indiana and northeast Jefferson County, Kentucky (Louisville Metro). By 1828, the population had grown to 7,000 and Louisville became an incorporated city.[23]. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north, as Indiana was a free state. Indiana University Southeast is located across the Ohio River in New Albany, Indiana. 502-587-8546. Two major graduate-professional schools of religion are also located in Louisville. Louisville's main airport is the centrally located Louisville International Airport, whose IATA Airport code (SDF) reflects its former name of Standiford Field. [75], Louisville is a significant center of manufacturing, with two major Ford Motor Company plants, and the headquarters and major home appliance factory of GE Appliances (a subsidiary of Haier). On January 6, 2003, Louisville merged its government with that of Jefferson County, forming coterminous borders. [59] About 9.5% of families and 15.1% of the population were below the poverty line in 2017, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those ages 65 or over.[60]. Seasonal extremes in both temperature and precipitation are not uncommon during early spring and late fall; severe weather is not uncommon, with occasional tornado outbreaks in the region. The Louisville Orchestra today performs more than 125 concerts per year with a core of salaried musicians and is recognized as a cornerstone of the Louisville arts community. The Louisville Cardinals's Freedom Hall averaged sellouts for 10 straight years and the downtown KFC Yum! The residents of the semi-independent municipalities within Louisville Metro are apportioned to districts along with all other county residents. The historic but smaller Bowman Field is used mainly for general aviation while nearby Clark Regional Airport is used mostly by private jets. [18] Despite the merger and renaming, the term "Jefferson County" continues to be used in some contexts in reference to Louisville Metro, particularly including the incorporated cities outside the "balance" which make up Louisville proper. The United States Marine Hospital of Louisville is considered by the National Park Service to be the best remaining antebellum hospital in the United States. About 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Two regional railroads, the Paducah and Louisville Railway and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad, also serve the city. Attendance is estimated at approximately 200,000-300,000 for the week. Acclaimed singer-songwriters Will Oldham, who performs under the moniker "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy", is a resident, as was country/rock singer-songwriter Tim Krekel. [96] The team was originally the reserve side for Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer, but the two organizations were separated in 2016. Office of the Secretary of State. Today, the city is known as the home of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), the University of Louisville and its Cardinals, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies: Humana, Kindred Healthcare, and Yum! The wettest seasons are spring and summer, although rainfall is fairly constant year round. January is the coldest month, with a mean temperature of 34.9 °F (1.6 °C). The flood submerged 60–70 percent of the city, caused complete loss of power for four days, and forced the evacuation of 175,000 or 230,000 residents, depending on sources. [28] The NAACP challenged the ordinance in two cases. UPS operates its largest package-handling hub at Louisville International Airport and bases its UPS Airlines division there. The Louisville Orchestra was founded in 1937 by conductor Robert Whitney and Charles Farnsley, then Mayor of Louisville, and was a world leader in commissioning and recording contemporary works for orchestra from the 1950s to 1980s. The most popular radio stations are WGZB-FM and 84 WHAS 840 AM. The Ohio River Bridges Project, a plan under consideration for decades to construct two new interstate bridges over the Ohio River to connect Louisville to Indiana, including a reconfiguration of Spaghetti Junction, began construction in 2012. Since 1996, every May, the Festival of Faiths,[68] a five-day national interfaith gathering, is held featuring music, poetry, film, art and dialogue with internationally renowned spiritual leaders, thinkers and practitioners. Though it is only about a mile (1.6 km) long, this strip of Bardstown Road constitutes much of the city's culture and diverse lifestyle, contributing to the unofficial "Keep Louisville Weird" slogan. [16] Louisville was the second and only other city in the state to merge with its county since Lexington merged with Fayette County in 1974. CBS affiliate WLKY 32 and Fox affiliate WDRB 41 (along with its sister station WBKI) round out the major television stations in the city. [27], In 1914, the City of Louisville passed a racially-based residential zoning code, following Baltimore, Atlanta, and a handful of cities in the Carolinas. [126] Only about 35 minutes from Fort Knox, the airport is also a major hub for armed services personnel. The Derby is preceded by a two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, which starts with the annual Thunder Over Louisville, the largest annual fireworks display in North America. The Cardinals ranked third nationally in attendance in 2012–13,[93] the most recent of the program's three national championship seasons. The median income for a household in 2017 was $51,960. 3. He was also one of the youngest players to ever receive the award. [25], On March 27, 1890, the city was devastated and its downtown nearly destroyed when an F4 tornado tore through as part of the middle Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak. Louisville has inner and outer interstate beltways, I‑264 and I‑265 respectively. As of the 2000 census, Louisville had a population of 256,231, down from the 1990 census population of 269,063. The greatest change has occurred along the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue and Frankfort Avenue corridors as well as the Old Louisville neighborhood. Of the 287,012 households, 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were not families. Center following suit with regular sellouts. The Louisville Waterfront Park is prominently located on the banks of the Ohio River near downtown and features large open areas, which often hold free concerts and other festivals. [106][107], In a 2005 survey, Morgan Quitno Press ranked Louisville as the seventh safest large city in the United States. Another prominent TV station is ABC affiliate WHAS 11, formerly owned by the Bingham family (who also owned The Courier-Journal), which hosts the regionally notable annual fundraiser, the WHAS Crusade for Children. A scenic bend in the Ohio River, which divides Kentucky from Indiana, can be seen from northern overlooks within the park. Most of Louisville's Roman Catholic population is of German descent, the result of large-scale 19th-century immigration. Theatre 502, Savage Rose Classical Theatre, The Bard's Town Theatre Company, The Liminal Playhouse, Looking For Lilith, Bunbury Theatre Company, Louisville Repertory Theatre, Louisville Improvisors, Pandora Productions, Eve Theatre Company, Squallis Puppeteers and Baby Horse Theatre all curate full seasons of contemporary, classical and experimental work. The Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 43rd largest in the United States,[a][7] includes the Kentucky county of Jefferson (coterminous with Louisville Metro), plus twelve outlying counties—seven in Kentucky and five in Southern Indiana.