East Market District (Louisville) - History and Architecture

History and Architecture

The area that is now NuLu was originally part of a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) Royal land grant to Col. William Preston for his service during the French and Indian War. In 1827, the area was annexed by the city of Louisville under the name of "Uptown". Around 1832, Market Street's eastern terminus was occupied by the Woodland Gardens, a green oasis of amusement and entertainment in the growing city that became a favorite gathering spot with German immigrants. The gardens themselves gave way to the Bourbon Stockyards when it closed in 1880, which helped fuel early growth of meat purveyors, tanners and other industries associated with the livestock trade, including the establishment of five Market Houses that populated the street. Two of these could be found in today's East Market District: the Shelby Market, between Campbell and Shelby Streets, and the Preston Market between Preston and Floyd Streets. From the early 1960s until the early 2000s the East Market area was occupied by many of Louisville's homeless people and the Wayside Mission was a prominent feature. Eventually businesses in the area, headed by antiques dealer Joe Ley, pressured the city to crack down on homelessness and vagrancy. This paved the way for the gentrification of the area and early investors bought properties for renovation. The homeless were forced to move south of the area now concentrating on East Broadway.