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WINTER 2014 61 Collection Essay Before the Wrecking Ball T he history of Louisville, like so many cities, is one of expansion and change. Over time the landscape of the city changes: buildings come and go; residential areas shift farther from downtown as businesses increase; once fashionable areas fall into decay; and the old makes way for the new. In short, to put a twist on an old saying—what was here yesterday is often gone today. The urban renewal programs of the mid-twentieth century leveled entire city blocks deemed substandard and not worth preserving. It also displaced viable and often vibrant communities in the name of “progress.” Granted, some areas had declined to the point that demolition was a reasonable solution and modern, much more useful buildings were built. But the frequent “scorched earth” approach of urban renewal all too often destroyed structures that today might be considered gems of nineteenth -century architecture. The preservation movements that often battled this practice enjoyed some successes, but the wrecking ball often left gaping holes in the city’s landscape, holes that fifty and more years later sometimes remain as vacant lots. Projects to document both urban “renewal” and what was being razed have providedimportantvisualdocumentationoflostbuildingsandstreetscapes .Professionally and sometimes personally photographed, they record a visual history of the city and its neighborhoods that the wrecking ball permanently changed. Anyone with a camera could walk the streets snapping photos of buildings destined for destruction . Louisville was no exception. Agencies involved with urban renewal efforts documented their work. While the photos can be quite plentiful there inevitably are views missing. Thus, photos snapped by individuals can help fill those possible gaps. East view from the front window of 734 Dixie Highway (formerly South 18th Street) south of Broadway, 1951. As late as the early 1950s the area was a viable neighborhood of residences, businesses , and organizations.Within a few years the entire area was razed to make way for the Philip Morris industrial complex, which has since closed and itself been razed.The area today is a vacant lot awaiting new development. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY View from the rear window of 734 Dixie Highway, 1951. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BEFORE THE WRECKING BALL 62 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY A collection was recently donated to The Filson that contains a number of indentified photos of areas of Louisville affected by urban renewal—the Simmons Collection. They focus on the western side of downtown near the primary African American business district along Walnut Street (now Muhammad Ali Blvd.) and date from 1946 to 1959. Two areas were of special interest to the photographer: Seventh Street between Broadway and Chestnut and where he or she apparently lived at 734 Dixie Highway (formerly Eighteenth Street). The photographer’s identity remains a mystery. The owner and only listed resident of the house was Gertrude (also 106-108 W. Walnut Street (now Muhammad Ali Blvd.), 1951. The J. Graham Brown School now occupies those lots. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 13th and Madison Streets, 1946. Light industry, apartments, and a small city park now occupy that intersection. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 8th and Liberty Streets looking southeast, 1946. The Metropolitan Sewer District building is there today. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY View from the alley running north between 6th and 7th Streets between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, 1951. The church steeple in the distance is the Cathedral of the Assumption on 5th north of Muhammad Ali (previously Walnut). The Republic Building and Kentucky Towers can also be seen to its right. Everything in the foreground is now occupied by the AT&T building, a River City Bank building, and surface parking. FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY JAMES J. HOLMBERG WINTER 2014 63 listed at various times in city directories under the name Josephine) Simmons, the widow of Harry I. Simmons. Harry died in July 1944 at the age of sixty-four, when Gertrude was fifty-seven. It seems unlikely that at age sixty and older she would have been roaming the streets with camera in hand taking photographs. Harry was briefly married before his marriage to Gertrude Gahafer and had one daughter, Camille. Camille married Albert Sidney Lewis and they had one son, Perry. Perhaps Perry visited his step-grandmother and...

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