Limerick, Louisville
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Limerick is a neighborhood one mile south of downtown Louisville, Kentucky USA. It was developed in the 1860s as a place of residence for employees of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight yard. It was named because nearly all of the residents were from the Irish county of Limerick. The St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church was the centerpiece of the newly founded neighborhood. Limerick began the trend of working class people living southwest of downtown, a trend which continues in the city to this day.
The working class Irish immigrants lived in modest shotgun houses, with a moderate number of African Americans living in the alleyways behind them, while upper income Irish, known as "lace curtain Irish", built mansion houses on St. Catherine Street. The Irish Catholic presence in Limerick was strong enough that from 1872 to 1918 an annual St Patrick's Day march went from the church to Broadway. But as many of the railroad jobs left the area, the Irish began to move to South Louisville.
As the Irish left, the African Americans moved from the alleyways into the vacated shotgun houses. In 1873, Louisville Central Public School, Kentucky's first state supported public school for African Americans was opened at 6th and Kentucky Streets. It would be later renamed Simmons College of Kentucky and finally Municipal College for Negros, a "colored" campus of the University of Louisville. The school closed for good in 1951 when U of L desegregated.
Before being destroyed by a fire in 1899, both Eclipse Parks, homes of the Louisville Colonels, were located in Limerick, at 7th and Kentucky streets.
Today, Limerick is a historic preservation district. It is bounded by Breckinridge Street to the north, 5th street to the east, Oak Street to the south, and the CSX railroad tracks. to the west. South of Oak street, the eastern boundary is 7th street until it crosses the railroad tracks.
[edit] Demographics
As of 2000, the population of Limerick was 1,448 , of which 56.5% are black, 37.7% are white, 3.8% are listed as other, and 2% are Hispanic. College graduates are 17.3% of the population, people without a high school degree are 21.2%. Males outnumber females 63.7% to 46.3%.
[edit] References
- ↑ Community Resource Network. Retrieved on 2005-11-18.
