Louisville, the ‘Little Falls’ of the West, was the entrepot of
the Blue Grass region
Louisville, the ‘Little Falls’ of the West, was the entrepot of
the Blue Grass region. It had been a place of some importance
since Revolutionary days, for in seasons of low water the rapids
in the Ohio at this point gave employment to scores of laborers
who assisted the flatboatmen in hauling their cargoes around the
obstruction which prevented the passage of the heavily loaded
barges. The town, which was incorporated in 1780, soon showed
signs of commercial activity. It was the proud possessor of a
drygoods house in 1783. The growth of its tobacco industry was
rapid from the first. The warehouses were under government
supervision and inspection as early as 1795, and innumerable
flatboats were already bearing cargoes of bright leaf southward
in the last decade of the century. The first brick house in
Louisville was erected in 1789 with materials brought from
Pittsburgh. Yankees soon established the ‘Hope Distillery’; and
the manufacture of whiskey, which had long been a staple industry
conducted by individuals, became an incorporated business of
great promise in spite of objections raised against the ‘creation
of gigantic reservoirs of this damning drink.’
