Beechmont is a neighborhood in the south end of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Its modern boundaries are

I-264 Interstate 264 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 64: *Interstate 264 (Kentucky), a bypass of Louisville, Kentucky *Interstate 264 (Virginia) Interstate 264 (I-264) ...

to the north, Taylor Boulevard to the west, Southern Parkway and Southland Boulevard to the south, and Third Street, Allmond and Louisville Avenues to the east.

Iroquois Park Iroquois Park is a 725-acre (3.0 km2) municipal park in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Louisville's Cherokee Park and Shawnee Park, at what were then the ...

is located to its southwest. The park, purchased by Louisville Mayor

Charles Donald Jacob Charles Donald Jacob (June 1, 1838 – December 25, 1898) was an American politician who served four terms as mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, two consecutively in 1873–78, then later in 1882–84 and 1888–90. He also served as the U.S. ministe ...

in 1889 and completed in 1893, was connected to the city by Southern Parkway (originally called Grand Boulevard), in a master plan designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

. Much like Shawnee Park spurred development in the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

neighborhood, Iroquois Park contributed to making Beechmont a desirable suburb as it was developed in the 1890s. The neighborhood was named for the beech trees in the area, as Beechmont was to be a pleasant escape from the crowded urban area of Louisville. Due to its relative distance from Louisville, it was originally intended as a summer neighborhood for the wealthy, and was a part of the city of Highland Park - which incorporated in 1890. The dominant architectural style of early houses in the neighborhood is the

Craftsman Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative *Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...

style. It was linked to Louisville by a

streetcar line A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segment ...

along 4th street in 1900, and the city was

annex Annex or annexe may refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. * The Annex (New Haven), a neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. * Annex, Oregon, a census-designated place in the United ...

ed by Louisville in 1922, after a 5-year court battle. Beechmont escaped flooding during the

Great Flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ...

, and was a temporary disaster shelter. The neighborhood expanded slightly as new developments were built after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These developments were often unpopular with the residents of Beechmont. The neighborhood suffered a decline in the 1960s, following the same pattern as all of the older neighborhoods. As of 2000, Beechmont had a population of 8,021.

References

External links

Beechmont Neighborhood AssociationStreet map of Beechmont Images of Beechmont (Louisville, Ky.) in the University of Louisville Libraries Digital Collections

— Article by Kristin Faurest of ''

The Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' {{Louisville Neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky 1890s establishments in Kentucky Populated places established in the 1890s