Local & Regional History

Founded in 1925, the Frontier Nursing University has held steadfast and powerful roots in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, yielding a bevy of both healthy babies and quality nurse-midwifery graduates for over 85 years. In this coffee-table volume, the stories and experiences of the early Frontier graduates provide a fascinating glimpse into an otherwise undocumented history of nurse-midwifery in the 20th century.

Back in print! As the official recorder of all Seelbach legend and history, author Larry Johnson discusses in lively detail the many celebrities, presidents, movie stars, famous writers, gangsters and even ghosts who've passed through this bastion of stately architecture in Louisville, Kentucky.

With over 300 contemporary and archival illustrations, this beautiful full-color coffee-table book presents an in-depth view of 32 spectacular country estates in Louisville, Kentucky, and the families and architects who built them. This period and genre of residential architecture and related social history in Louisville have never before been documented this thoroughly or extensively.

Kadie Engstrom's full-color volume reveals the many places a visitor can go to learn about the wonderfully vast history of Louisville, Kentucky's metropolitan area. Along with retelling significant events in local history, Engstrom targets the sites (including those designated as National Historic Landmarks) that are available for visitation and which interpret a piece of Louisville's historic puzzle.

Praised for its innovative landscape design, Louisville's Waterfront Park was, just 25 years ago, covered by an industrial brownfield wasteland of scrapyards, sand and gravel operations, warehouses, asphalt plants and railroad tracks. This beautiful full-color coffee table book tells the great success story of the Park's transformation and how the vision was achieved.

Over two centuries and more, African Americans in Louisville, Kentucky have created a community and defined its identity and character while meeting the evolving challenges of slavery, freedom, segregation, politics, economics and cultural meaning. Presenting over 450 historical and archival photographs, this beautiful book tells the story of this community in words and images.

Historian and Four Roses brand ambassador Al Young puts his storytelling talents to good use in writing the incredible history of what was once the most popular and best-selling bourbon in America. It is a story filled with folklore and adventure, family feuds and romance, with a cast of colorful characters any fiction writer would die for. Pour yourself a glass, relax and get ready to savor every moment of this fascinating and long-overdue history.

Esteemed philanthropist Isaac Wolfe Bernheim's most enduring legacy is the 14,500-acre Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, KY. After 80 years, his dream of creating a place to "gladden the soul and please the sight" has long been realized, with thousands of annual visitors finding inspiration in the forest's miles of trails, formal gardens, visitor center, events and all facets of wild land. Here, for the first time and in 280 gorgeous, full-color pages, the story of the forest and the man behind it unfolds.

As Louisville Water Company celebrates its 150th anniversary, this keepsake coffee-table book explores the company's complete history through historic photographs and rich stories from the company's archives. Since 1860, Louisville Water Company has pioneered research into cleaning drinking water, built landmark structures and become a life-line for the city's population. It provided street "sprinklers" in the 1800s, a swimming pool in the 1920s, a silent movie in the 1930s and a "victory garden" in the 1940s. Here you'll discover how Louisville's history has been shaped by the history of its water works.

The building of the KFC Yum! Center is a blueprint for how a public project should be funded, planned, and executed. From the outset, the project has been about providing every element of the city's culture — men and women, black and white, business and labor, rich and poor — with an opportunity to help revitalize the city's downtown and make the city a viable option for national events. This is the story of how Possibility City turned a dream into a magnificent reality.

In this fully-illustrated, coffee-table keepsake volume, award-winning journalist Billy Reed gives a nostalgic salute to one of America's premier sports and entertainment venues — Louisville, Kentucky's Freedom Hall — with a look back at some of its greatest events and most memorable moments.

Filled with memories, music and memorabilia from the era, and packaged with a commemorative DVD documenting the band's history, this book takes readers back to the early days of Louisville rock 'n' roll to remember one of its biggest acts, The Monarchs. After 50 years of concerts, sock hops, dances and reunions, the music hasn't stopped, and award-winning journalist Billy Reed follows the band—and the greater Louisville area—through it all.

A true labor of love, bourbon aficionado Chet Zoeller conducted years of research to uncover the complete history of bourbon distilling and distilleries throughout Kentucky. Bourbon in Kentucky is the comprehensive publication of his findings, cataloging almost 1,000 distillers and brands across the Commonwealth—from farmhouse mashers to the major industrial concerns, and from the late 1700s to the present day. With hundreds of rare and historical photographs, this is believed to be the first and only authoritative history of its kind.

From proud but humble beginnings in Happy Hollow, Kentucky, bourbon producer Maker's Mark has grown to cult status around the world. In My Autobiography, the company's flamboyant president, Bill Samuels, Jr., gives us the official, fascinating and colorful life story of his family's premier bourbon brand.

With 250 color and black and white photographs—many of which have never before been published—this 150th anniversary volume celebrates the Louisville, Kentucky fire department and the history of motorized vehicles the city's firefighters have used to protect its citizens, from the most primitive designs in 1905 to the latest technology available.

With hundreds of color photographs, this beautiful 150th Anniversary book celebrates the history of the American Printing House for the Blind—which is based in Louisville, Kentucky—and examines the mechanical innovations and evolutions, right up to today's digital solutions, that have enabled them to provide specialized materials, books, products, and services to the visually impaired.

In the years after World War I, Centre College's "Praying Colonels" were the most famous and publicized college football team ever to play the game. Competing all over the country and beating all the major powers of the day, they achieved enormous acclaim as "The Wonder Team," a group of talented and colorful young men who put Centre, and the little town of Danville, Kentucky, on the map. Includes over 250 color photographs.

Beginning with bands of hunters and gatherers foraging for food, join revered archaeologist Donald Janzen on a 10,000-year journey to explore prehistoric Native American life in the Falls of the Ohio River region. With a variety of illustrations and artifacts, Unearthing the Past provides compelling revelations about what lies beneath the streets and subdivisions of our 21st century hometown.

His name evokes images of timelessly handsome, classically beautiful homes that remain highly sought-after many decades after their construction. In this magnificent volume, the authors present a comprehensive appreciation of Hammon's work through gorgeous photography and full description. This book was awarded a Bronze Medal for Excellence in the national Architecture category of the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

This complete yet purse-sized volume is the perfect guidebook to Louisville's most significant buildings, historic residences and landmarks, incorporating the dates, the architects, and the style, significance and historic status of over 60 of Louisville's most notable sites.

Through historic photographs, maps, log books, diaries and recollections, Rick Bell re-creates, in thrilling detail, the magnitude of Louisville's worst natural disaster which, 70 years ago, put two-thirds of the city under water.

Rousing in its detail, this hard-bound volume is a comprehensive look back at the category 4 tornado which tore a path of destruction across Louisville, Kentucky on April 3, 1974. The story is told through never-before-seen photographs and the moving recollections of people whose homes and lives were torn apart that fateful day.

The centennial of Louisville, Kentucky's Audubon Country Club in 2008 inspired a dynamic effort to research and commemorate the Club's rich history. This limited-edition book is a comprehensive exploration of the Club's first 100 years, from its founding and the layout of its golf course to the Club's milestones, golf championships, and evolution. Filled with gorgeous and unique historic photographs and anecdotes.

To celebrate the history of one of Louisville's oldest and most vital Catholic parishes, Father Jerry Eifler and Steve Wiser have created a lively and thorough look back at the people and milestone events in the church's development and evolution, by weaving personal memories with hundreds of archival photos along with the original research of Charles W. Beckman, Sr.

Spanning over 120 years of the school's history, this book captures the essence of what it means to be a "Mercy girl." The history, faith and educational mission of Mercy Academy are documented here in words, archival photographs and contemporary images.

In time for its 175th anniversary, Franklin College has partnered with Butler Books to publish this full-color commemorative volume celebrating the College's rich history of exceptional liberal arts education. Packed with 144 pages of archival and contemporary photographs and a timeline of Franklin's colorful history, this is an excellent keepsake for anyone with ties to Franklin College.

You never knew Louisville was so well-connected! In this fun and surprising compilation, Louisville's chief trivia expert tests your knowledge of the many connections between Louisville and the worlds of film, art, music and literature.

In Calling It Like I See It, Earl Cox, the dean of Kentucky sports writers, compiles his "true stories and tall tales about Kentucky sports," writing in his brash and funny style about a broad range of Kentucky sports and the personalities that have shaped the game.