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Get Ready for Louisville History Month!

September is officially Louisville History Month! Get ready to celebrate with the Museum by cheering on the Louisville Miners at the 4th annual vintage base ball game at Miners Field on September 20, register for a walking tour Saturdays in September, bring your pup to celebrate the “dog days of summer” First Friday event, or attend a historical reenactment with the Legendary Ladies. Read more and find registration info here. [link to updated history month webpage]

First Friday at the Museum: “Team Spirit!”

Football! Baseball! Hose Races! Swing by the museum between 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday, August 1, to dive into the spirited history of sports in Louisville throughout the ages. From championship football games to baseball Sundays and firefighting hose team competitions, generations of sports teams brought pride (and trophies!) to Louisville.

An amazing donation

At the Museum, we never know when an amazing donation is going to walk through the door. This was the experience when longtime volunteer Patty Lester came in with drawings and letters from Ben Fiechtl. Fiechtl was the first Louisville resident killed in WWII and the person for whom the local VFW is named. He also had amazing artistic ability! Lester picked up this drawing and others like it at a garage sale, and we are very grateful for her keen eye to recognize an invaluable piece of Louisville history!

Celebrate Italian heritage!

Although Italian American Heritage month is celebrated in October across the country, here in Louisville, we celebrate in August. Louisville has a strong Italian heritage, with first or second-generation Italians making up 27% of Louisville’s population in 1930! In the 1950s and 1960s Italian spaghetti restaurants were the town’s major draw and economic support! Today, Louisville’s Italian heritage remains strong, with the Louisville Society of Italian Americans hosting an annual celebration that allows members and visitors alike to enjoy delicious Italian cuisine, music, a bocce tournament, and camaraderie. This year’s event will be held at Memory Square Park on Sunday, August 10. To learn more, visit ItalianClub.Net

Welcome new Museum Associate for Outreach and Communications!

Kira Boatright is joining the museum as the Outreach and Communications Associate. Kira is from Westminster, Colorado and has family ties to Louisville (which she discovered while interning here!). She recently graduated with her Master’s in History from CU Denver. Her previous work in public history and historical research has emphasized both labor and immigration history. Kira has worked as the Collections Management Intern at the Museum for the past two summers and is excited to be joining the team in a permanent capacity! 

Membership

Join or Renew Today!

We love our members! Members can renew online, via mail, or in person. As a reminder, if paying by check, please make your membership check out to the Louisville Historical Museum and remember to make any monetary donations separately to the Louisville History Foundation. Thank you for your support!

Not a member yet? Join today with the perfect membership type for you. The Historical Museum offers individual, family, and business memberships, as well as gift memberships so that you can give someone who loves Louisville and history full access to all that the Museum has to offer.

Museum members receive the Louisville Historian in the mail four times each year. You can also make a donation directly to the Louisville History Foundation to support the work the Museum does and special projects.

Thank You, Business Members

740 Front

Alternating Current Press
Arc Thrift Stores

Ariel IT Services
Atomic Forge
Berkelhammer Tree Experts, Inc.
Bolder Insurance
Coal Creek Collision Center
Cory Nickerson - 8z Real Estate
Creative Framing & Art Gallery
DAJ Design, Inc.
Deep End Solutions
E & L Team at RE/MAX Elevate

Fingerplay Studio

Gstalder Louisville Law Group

Hofgard & Associates, P.C.
Louisville Cyclery
Louisville Tire & Auto Care

Moxie Bread Co.
Origin CPA Group
Paul's Coffee & Tea
Pine Street Plaza
Premier Members Credit Union

Seward Mechanical Systems
Society of Italian Americans
Stewart Architecture
Ters Family Dentistry
The Singing Cook

Historic Photo Feature

What were Louisvillians up to in July 1908..

This merry group of around 100 Louisville men and women are posing in front of a steam train along a trestle bridge in a picturesque mountain setting. Printed along the bottom of the photo is a seal for "The Switzerland Trail of America" and "Louisville & Lafayette S. S. at Ward July 23 08." "Louisville & Lafayette S. S." may be a reference to the Sunday School for the Methodist Churches in Louisville and Lafayette.

The Switzerland Trail of America refers to a historic three foot (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad line that was first laid in 1883. The route winds between altitudes of 7,000 and over 9,000 feet, from Eldora, past Nederland, on north through Sugar Loaf and, ultimately, Ward, where this photo was taken.

Embossed in the bottom right corner of the mat is "Nelson 1017 Pearl, Boulder, Colo." "Glacier Lake" is written on the verso.