Belknap, Louisville
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Belknap is a neighborhood five miles southeast of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is also referred to as the 'Outer Highlands' or 'Upper Highlands'. The area was originally owned by the Belknap family.
In 1917 the first houses were built in the area and was called 'University Park', and many of the streets in the area were named after Ivy League schools. The area was so named because the Belknap family had planned to connect the newly built neighborhood to land they had deeded to be the 'future' location of the University of Louisville, who was looking to build a liberal arts campus away from its medical school downtown. However, a taxe hike to facilitate the new campus of the municiply funded school was rejected by voters in 1920, so the plan never materialized. The new campus was later located in the Old Louisville area.
Some of the land originally deeded for the new campus was sold to William F. Randolph for ninety-five thousand dollars and developed with homes. In 1949 Bellarmine University located to the area originally planned as a campus.
Landmarks within the neighborhood include the Belknap School (now converted to condominiums), the Douglass Loop shopping area and Lakeside Swim Club.
A private club open since 1924, Lakeside is built at the site of a former rock quarry and known for its steep 40' rock walls on two sides of the 2 1/2 acre grounds. The most prominent feature is a huge quarry "lake" - it is actually a 3.2 million gallon swimming pool with a flat concrete bottom, treated water and depths ranging from 3' to 20'.
Only two antebellum structures remain; a former farmhouse on Eastview near Lakeside (converted to apartments) and a barn behind a house near the Douglass Loop.
Belknap neighborhood is bounded by Douglass Loop, Bardstown Road, Newburg Road, and Emerson Avenue and Dundee Road to the east.
[edit] Demographics
In the 2000 census, the population of Belknap was 3,630 , of which 95.8% are white, 1.9% are people listed as other, 1.3% are black, and 1% are Hispanic. College graduates are 57.8% of the population, people without a high school degree are 3.8%. Females outnumber males 55% to 45%.
[edit] References
- ↑ Community Resource Network. Retrieved on 2005-11-18.
