Architectural Collections at The Filson Historical Society

The Filson Historical Society is nearing the final stages of a two-year building project that includes not only a renovation of both the Ferguson Mansion and carriage house but also an entirely new facility that will add 20,000 square feet. Constructed from more than 130 tons of steel and featuring energy efficient HVAC systems, 865 LED lights, and 65,000 bricks, the new space includes three galleries, two event spaces, and increased storage space for collections. Designed by the award-winning De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop, the renovations and addition embody the firm’s methodology of emphasizing conventional materials and construction methods in order to create a structure that reflects and respects the Old Louisville neighborhood.

It seems only fitting that this issue’s collection essay from The Filson focus on architectural and landscape record holdings, which range from modern residential floor plans on blueprint to mid-nineteenth century industrial designs on waxed linen; four-color presentation drawings and unfinished sketches on trace; residential gardens and university landscape plans; project photographs; and the personal papers of architects. The Filson’s architectural and landscape collections vary not only in their project scope and focus but also represent a diverse set of makers—including two women landscape architects, one African American architect, and one female architect—all of whom will be examined in greater detail within this essay.

Industrial and Commercial

With more than two thousand drawings contained in thirty-six records center boxes and twenty oversized folders, the D.X. Murphy & Bro. Architects Records, 1854-1949 (Mss. BB M978), is the largest processed architectural collection at The Filson. Comprised of both project files and architectural drawings, the D.X. Murphy & Bro. collection is a fine example of the industrial and commercial work designed and executed in Louisville and surrounding cities during the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While the collection includes some residential commissions, the bulk of the collection centers on commercial designs. Companies and institutions, such as Belknap Hardware, Bourbon Stock Yards, Louisville and Interurban Railroad, Louisville Lighting, Louisville Trust, Old Kentucky Woolen Mills, Louisville Hotel, and U.S. Custom House and Post Office utilized the services of architects Dennis Xavier and James Cornelius Murphy—the “D.X. and Bro.” of D.X. and Bro. Architects. Typically drawn with pen and ink on heavy paper and drafting linen, or blueprints, drawings in the collection include floor plans, site and plot plans, elevations, sections, details, cross sections, longitudinal sections, and framing plans.

Floor plan of third floor of U.S. Customs House drawn by D.X. Murphy and Bro., Louisville, KY. filson historical society

Another notable example of industrial design within The Filson’s collections is the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company Architectural Plans, 1879-1961 (Mss. AR L888a and L88a). The drawings, nearly 300 in total, include examples of standardized structures and tools as well as location-specific buildings, such as freight depots, stations, machine shops, and signal houses. Dating mostly from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, this collection also contains drawn plans of tools and hardware, machinery, furniture, mileposts, and water tanks. The train shed at Louisville’s Union Station (elevation and interior drawings are available at The Filson) was a typical, though not unremarkable, American style train shed known as “bent girder.” Drawings in the collection indicate how this style enabled Union Station’s shed to span 100 feet and reach 50 feet in height all at a length of 400 feet. While the Louisville and Nashville drawings are certainly useful from an engineering and design perspective, valuable social and cultural insights can be gleaned from depot and station drawings featuring segregated bathrooms and waiting rooms.

Designs for spans and trusses are featured in the collection of mechanical and architectural bridge drawings from the Engineers and Architects Club of Louisville, 1890-1919 (Mss. AR E57). Donated by the Engineers and Architects Club of Louisville in 1953, this collection is comprised of 106 mechanical and architectural drawings. The majority of these drawings illustrate bridge projects throughout Kentucky, though non-bridge projects...