Kentucky - Jefferson County

Iroquois Park, Louisville, KY

Donald Vish was a Louisville attorney and avid photographer.  He was known for his photographs of the Kentucky Derby.  He took many photographs in Olmsted parks and other parks in the Louisville parks system.  His views of the Louisville parks gave people a new perspective of the scenes of the Louisville parks.  The year 2023 was the last year of his life.  Now it is left to others to see the beauty of the Louisville area in a similar way. 

Kentucky - Jefferson County

 

Fungi on fallen tree

Sometimes one discovers something surprising.  Look at the variety of colors here, the surprising rich amount of colors.  This was seen in the woods in Iroquois Park, an Olmsted Park. 

Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted gave Louisville the plans for its parks and for parkways connecting major areas of the community. In addition the Olmsted firm was hired to lay out the grounds for some of the bourbon manufacturing sites.  Some landowners selected the Olmsted firm to design the fences and gates at their homes.

Kentucky, Appreciate its land and culture

Falls of Rough, Kentucky

Kentucky makes bourbon. Kentucky grows tobacco. It is the horse capitol of the States. Muhammad Ali was a fighter. A tasty fried chicken recipe. Those are the things that Kentucky is known for.


It is little known that Kentucky is a special place for cavers. The cave exploration community has an affection for the Bluegrass State.


Frederick Law Olmsted make a plan for public parks for many different cities. The city of Louisville in Kentucky was one of the few that got the land and made the places of the visions of Olmsted's plan.

The Red River gorge in Kentucky has ideal cliffs for climbing. There are two institutions that give new climbers courses on how to climb.

The CCC constucted many structures in Kentucky. Most of them can be seen today. The structures were often in scenic settings.

Bill Monroe and Ricky Skaggs popularized the unique style of music known as Bluegrass music.

Horses and tasty fried chicken. There is more to take in than horses and fried chicken.

Explore.  Good for the body.  Hear the music. Be inspired.

One Olmsted Park - Fall 2016 - Louisville, Kentucky

Renovated North Overlook - Olmsted Park - Iroquois Park

Whitetail Deer - Renovated North Overlook - Olmsted Park - Iroquois Park

The community settled on a plan to repair the damaged and vandalized overlook in Iroquois Park at the top of Iroquois hill.  The work was organized by the Olmsted Parks Conservancy and has taken part of 2015 and most of 2016 to complete.   I was surprised at the number of trees that were removed from the hillside.  By removing the trees the work crews opened the overlook so that the people could see to the Ohio River on the west side of Louisville and see New Albany, Indiana.  It has been fifty to seventy years since the view has been so unobstructed at the overlook.  I wonder if Frederick Law Olmsted would be pleased with the new look of the overlook at Iroquois Park.

Down

Cherokee Park - Landsacpe plan by Olmsted - Louisville, KY

 

Sometimes we think that our life is rough and others are having a better experience. The life of Frederick Law Olmsted informs us of the reality of human experience. His adult brother died from an illness. His leg was broken in a carriage accident and two weeks after the incident his child died. He was replaced and forced out from his position managing Central Park in New York. One of his major designs was dismissed because the roads were curved instead of strait with corners at the intersections. Olmsted did not have an easy time in his day. There was conflict swirling about his plans for landscapes.