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357:. Over the last ten years, due to the financial contributions of the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council, neighborhood associations, and several neighborhood philanthropists, the old women and children's shelter has been restored. The park now hosts the Old Louisville LIVE concert series, Jazz in Central Park, and an annual Halloween event called Victorian Tales of Terror.
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an open-air women and children's shelter and a gymnasium for men and boys. This building is one of few of
Spanish Mission style structures in the city. He also created a wading pool and athletic fields. The original walking trails from Louisville's 1883 Southern Exposition, which spilled over into the DuPont estate, were kept in place.
326:'s light bulb, one of the first large-scale public displays of the invention. In 1885 the park was unroofed, and was instead used as an outdoor exposition, with an Edison-designed electric trolley line transporting visitors around the park to see such sites as a roller coaster, bicycle trails, and an art museum surrounded by a lake.
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meeting place for the Old
Louisville Neighborhood Council and other neighborhood associations. (At the time, the council didn't have the funds to do a proper restoration). In 1976, an amphitheater and wooden playhouse were built, which have been used to host the annual Kentucky Shakespeare Festival since.
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to draw up a ground plan. Those plans finally came to fruition in 1904–05 when the old DuPont mansion was demolished and the basic outlines of the park as seen today were put into place. At the time, the
Spanish mission style of architecture was in vogue, and Olmsted's firm used it in its design for
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The park's future became less certain after the 1893 murder of Alfred DuPont. In the late 1890s, after Alfred's brother
Biderman moved to Delaware, the family sought to sell the estate to the city for a permanent park space, but negotiations dragged on and the family began making plans to subdivide
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In 1970, the gymnasium, by then long gone, was turned into a police station. A few years later, the shelter was radically altered. Its windows were filled in with concrete block and stucco and a drop ceiling installed to cover up the glorious yellow pine ceiling so that it could become an enclosed
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Interest in developing park space for
Louisville's growing population arose in the late 1860s, but it wasn't until the DuPonts decided to open the front lawn of their estate to the public on June 15, 1872, that the city earned its first park. Although first open only during warm months, it became
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Timothy J. Mullin, "The du Ponts in
Kentucky: Louisville's Central Park, the Southern Exposition, and an Entrepreneurial Spirit" (2009). DLSC Faculty Publications, Paper 18. Bowling Green, KY: Western Kentucky University, which is the source of other information that
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it into building lots. Around that time the city renamed the park DuPont Square, perhaps to encourage the family to keep it a park, but the name never stuck. Louisville ultimately purchased the old estate for $ 297,500 in 1904 (equivalent to $ 10,088,555.56 in 2023).
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The DuPonts had made contingency plans for a public park on their property as early as 1883. In 1901, they hired nationally renowned landscape architect
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immensely popular. The first known production of a
Shakespeare play in the park took place on July 1, 1895, when a national touring company presented
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During the 1883 Southern
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neighborhood, it was originally the country estate of the DuPont family. Early in its existence, the park was the site of the
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Louisville
Courier-Journal, May 2, 1896, p. 3. After 1904 there were no mentions of the name in that newspaper.
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in the area where the
Kentucky Shakespeare Festival's stage is now located.
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is a 17-acre (69,000 m) municipal park maintained by the city of
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List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
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Historic Old Louisville Visitors Center, located in the park
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Louisville Courier-Journal, December 1, 1970, p. 19.
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393:List of parks in the Louisville metropolitan area
296:, but later became mostly known for hosting the
411:Louisville Courier-Journal, July 1, 1895, p. 8.
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
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708:World's fair sites in the United States
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460:from the original on October 23, 2016
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300:and northern portions of the annual
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44:adding citations to reliable sources
718:Protected areas established in 1905
371:Louisville Metro Police Department
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353:In 2004, the park celebrated its
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723:1905 establishments in Kentucky
698:History of Louisville, Kentucky
383:History of Louisville, Kentucky
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31:needs additional citations for
728:Parks established in the 1900s
367:C. Douglass Ramey Amphitheater
164:Walking trails in Central Park
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703:Parks in Louisville, Kentucky
345:The playhouse at Central Park
298:Kentucky Shakespeare Festival
657:Falls of the Ohio State Park
586:David Armstrong Extreme Park
532:Louisville metropolitan area
713:Frederick Law Olmsted works
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55:"Central Park, Louisville"
611:Louisville Champions Park
601:Jefferson Memorial Forest
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672:Sam Peden Community Park
302:St. James Court Art Show
237:17 acres (0.069 km)
218:38.229194°N 85.763088°W
136:38.229194°N 85.763088°W
647:Charlestown State Park
456:. September 18, 2014.
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254:Louisville Metro Parks
626:Tom Sawyer State Park
485:Official city webpage
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335:Frederick Law Olmsted
223:38.229194; -85.763088
141:38.229194; -85.763088
286:Louisville, Kentucky
189:Louisville, Kentucky
40:improve this article
294:Southern Exposition
273:City's park webpage
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187:1340 S 4th Street,
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29:This article
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662:Lapping Park
621:Shawnee Park
571:Central Park
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462:. Retrieved
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365:Besides the
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282:Central Park
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153:Central Park
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96:October 2015
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38:Please help
33:verification
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677:Warder Park
667:Perrin Park
616:Seneca Park
464:October 22,
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196:Coordinates
139: /
692:Categories
399:References
361:Facilities
355:centennial
209:85°45′47″W
206:38°13′45″N
178:Urban park
127:85°45′47″W
124:38°13′45″N
66:newspapers
566:Blackacre
556:Belvedere
458:Archived
421:follows.
377:See also
184:Location
530:in the
308:History
268:Website
242:Created
80:scholar
260:Status
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528:Parks
87:JSTOR
73:books
466:2016
263:Open
245:1872
234:Area
174:Type
59:news
42:by
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