17 Fun Facts About Louisville

You may have lived in Louisville your whole life, but that doesn’t mean you know everything about this awesome city! Here are 17 fun facts about Louisville you may never have heard before. Be careful though: they just might blow your mind.

Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark. It is named after King Louis XVI of France.

Bill McChesney/Flickr

Louisville is one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountain range.

Nikon D3300/Max Pixel

Louisville is home to the oldest Mississippi-style steamboat in existence. The Belle of Louisville turned 100 years old in 2014!

Bo/Wikimedia

Louisville’s Churchill Downs was founded by the grandson of famous explorer William Clark. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr. founded the racetrack in 1874, and originally called it the Louisville Jockey Club.

Ken Lund/Wikimedia

The song “Happy Birthday” was written by two Louisville sisters, Patty and Mildred J. Hill.

PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay

Louisville’s Jefferson Memorial Park is the largest municipal urban forest in the United States. It sits on over 6,000 acres of land!

Jacknouse/Wikimedia

The first successful hand transplant in history was performed at the Kleinert Kutz Hand Care Center in 1999.

George Hodan/Public Domain Pictures

On February 13, 1981, there was a sewer explosion in Louisville caused by the fumes from a soybean processing plant. The explosion destroyed over two miles of the city’s streets, but no people were killed in the accident.

Zepfanman.com/Flickr

Louisville’s famous Seelbach Hotel served as the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby.” Several other elements of the city are included in this bestseller as well.

local louisville/Wikimedia

Author Charles Dickens visited Louisville, and he said that the Galt House hotel was just as pleasant and luxurious as a hotel in Paris.

Gresham College/Flickr

Abraham Lincoln’s grandfather (also named Abraham Lincoln) was said to have lived in Louisville for much of his life.

Nikon D7000/Max Pixel

90 percent of the world’s disco balls are produced in Louisville.

Matt Keiffer/Flickr

Louisville’s Southeast Christian Church is the fifth largest church in the United States, with over 30,000 members.

Southeast Christian Church/Facebook

The Kentucky State Fair, held every August at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center, is the largest air-conditioned state fair in the country.

The Pug Father/Flickr

The first library that allowed African Americans as patrons was built in Louisville in 1908.

Louisville Free Public Library/lfpl.org

The world’s only fully underground zipline runs through Louisville’s Mega Cavern.

Louisville Mega Cavern/LouisvilleMegaCavern.com

Actor Tom Cruise once lived in Louisville and attended St. Xavier High School.

Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia

Were you surprised by any of these fun facts? Is there anything that should be added to the list? Share your tidbits of trivia in the comments below!