Old Louisville Attractions - Third & Fourth Streets You'll want to tour Old Louisville, including Saint James and Belgravia courts, the grandest of all Louisville neighborhoods and the site of the 1883-87 Southern Exposition. The area is architecturally splendid, with examples of Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne, Italianate, Chateauesque and Beaux Arts styles. Pick up a walking tour brochure in Central Park at Fourth & Magnolia, 502/635-5244. Central Park is also the site of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in June and July (free, Tuesday-Sunday 7pm, 502/583-8738, some shadow-signed productions). The Conrad-Caldwell House, 1402 Saint James Court, is next to Central Park. This 1895 Richardsonian Romanesque mansion features a hand-carved stone exterior and period furnishings ($3, T-Th & Sun 1-5, 502/636-5023, handicapped accessible). The elegant Prince Wells Building at 737 South Third is home to the Louisville Automobile Museum with rotating exhibits of 80 classic cars and memorabilia. The museum has restored a 1923 car dealership to its original elegance of marbleized walls, mahogany paneling, and chandeliers ($6, T-F 10-4, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5, 502/568-2277, handicapped accessible). The Filson Club Historical Society, located in Old Louisville's 1900 Ferguson Mansion, 1310 S Third, has an exceptional genealogy library ($3) and manuscript, photography and museum collections (free). The society recently acquired the papers of Major General Don Carlos Buell, who lost his command after his army failed to crush Confederate forces at the Battle of Perryville in 1862. The historical society was founded in 1884 and named for Kentucky's first historian, John Filson (M-F 9-5, 502/635-5083, handicapped accessible). You'll find the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Museum at 1000 S Fourth. A flag from the War of 1812 is among many items on display (free). Upstairs is a 25,000-volume library including genealogies, $3 (M-F 9:30-4:30, 502/589-1776, handicapped accessible). The Thompkins-Buchanan-Rankin House at Spalding University was designed by Henry Whitestone in 1871 (free, M-F 8:30-5, 851 S Fourth, 502/585-9911, no handicapped accessible restrooms). The Palace Theatre, 629 S Fourth, offers a variety of entertainment. It first opened in 1928 as an opulent vaudeville and movie house. Designed by John Eberson, the lobby features 100 faces carved in the ceiling, while the stunning auditorium design is of a village courtyard with sculptures, stairways, flora, fauna, and stars (call for performance schedule, 502/583-4555, handicapped accessible). Be sure to visit the Camberly Brown Hotel at Fourth and Broadway. Built in 1923, this National Trust Historic Hotel was the birthplace of the famous Hot Brown sandwich. The beautiful public areas feature intricate plaster molding, detailed woodwork, stained glass and crystal chandeliers. The magnificently restored Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S Fifth, replete with architectural intrigue, features massive stone arches under an umbrella of 24 kt gold stars (free tours M-F 10-4, 502/583-3100, handicapped accessible). Nearby is Kentucky's largest daily newspaper, the Courier-Journal. A free guided tour includes a slide show on the paper's history (by appt M-F 9-11, 525 W Broadway, 800/765-4011x4545, handicapped accessible). Down the street at 335 West Broadway is the Margaret Parshall Gallery of the Embroiderers of America (free, M-F 9-4:30, 502/589-6956). A tour of the Brennan House, an 1868 urban townhouse, takes you back to Victorian Louisville's Gilded Age. The home is complete with elegant, original furniture and decor of the Brennan family who lived here from 1848 to 1969 ($3, T-Sat 10-3:30 on the half-hour, Jan-Feb by appointment, 631 S Fifth, 502/540-5145, not handicapped accessible). The J.B. Speed Art Museum displays more than 8,000 works ranging from ancient Egyptian to contemporary American art and spanning 6,000 years of history, the most significant collection of fine art in Kentucky and southern Indiana. Galleries feature European painting and sculpture with works by such masters as Rembrandt, Rubens, and Monet. The Satterwhite collection of Medieval and Renaissance painting, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts is exceptional. A highlight of the Tapestry Gallery is an exquisite 16th-century tapestry from Brussels that depicts the biblical Lamentation scene. The Kentucky gallery has several pieces of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia, including "devotionals" and a portion of a shingle from Lincoln's boyhood home. The interactive Art Learning Center features a variety of fun activities for children (museum free, Art Learning Center $3.50, T,W&F 10:30-4, Th 10:30-8, Sat 10:30-5, Sun 12-5, 2035 S Third, 502/634-2700, handicapped accessible). The Commonwealth Convention Center is located downtown at Sixth and Jefferson Streets. Back to Top