Main Street

Louisville, KY 40202, USA

Before attending a cousin’s wedding in Louisville back in September, I took a morning stroll through downtown along Main Street and came across these buildings, formerly occupied by bourbon-related businesses and distilleries dating back between the 1880’s-early 1900’s. After all, this is Bourbon Country where 95% of the drink is produced. Cast iron was commonly used to build the decorative features that were too expensive to carve out of stone. When walking along West Main Street, you’ll notice that the sidewalk bricks in front of buildings are placed sideways and flecked with iron to identify the cast iron buildings. You can even stick magnets to the building façades! In fact, Louisville has the second largest concentration of cast iron buildings in the US (New York’s Soho District is #1).

More Recommendations

Whiskey Row!

Before attending a cousin’s wedding in Louisville back in September, I took a morning stroll through downtown along Main Street and came across these buildings, formerly occupied by bourbon-related businesses and distilleries dating back between the 1880’s-early 1900’s. After all, this is Bourbon Country where 95% of the drink is produced. Cast iron was commonly used to build the decorative features that were too expensive to carve out of stone. When walking along West Main Street, you’ll notice that the sidewalk bricks in front of buildings are placed sideways and flecked with iron to identify the cast iron buildings. You can even stick magnets to the building façades! In fact, Louisville has the second largest concentration of cast iron buildings in the US (New York’s Soho District is #1).

Information on this page, including website, location, and opening hours, is subject to have changed since this page was last published. If you would like to report anything that’s inaccurate, let us know at notification@afar.com.

Nearby highlights
Sign up for our newsletter
Join more than a million of the world’s best travelers. Subscribe to the Daily Wander newsletter.
More From AFAR