Shawnee is a neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. Its boundaries are I-264

Interstate 264 (Kentucky)

The Henry Watterson Expressway, also known as the Georgia Davis Powers/Shawnee Expressway west of US 31W, is one of two Interstate Highways in the United States designated as Interstate 264 . It is 22.93 miles in length, and runs an open circle around central Louisville, Kentucky...

, West Broadway and Northwestern Parkway (Shawnee Park). Maps sometimes identify the area as Shawneeland.

Shawnee Park

Shawnee Park

Shawnee Park is a municipal park in Louisville, Kentucky. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed 18 of the city's 123 public parks...

 was completed in 1892 and residential districts sprung up around it quickly. In 1895, Louisville annexed Shawnee and extended street car lines. The land between Shawnee and Louisville was subdivided and many whites moved in in the early 20th century. The wealthiest areas were near the park and golf course, with middle and working class neighborhoods further east.

The Flood of 1937

Ohio River flood of 1937

The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million persons were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million...

, as well as air pollution problems caused many White families to move further east. The neighborhood became integrated in the 1960s and was predominantly Black

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

 by 1970. Many of the homes in Shawnee are examples of late-19th century architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

. The grand homes are still in good to excellent condition. The size and quality of these homes rival those found in other areas of the city, particularly Crescent Hill. As Western Louisville is economically depressed and lacks many amenities, the housing cost are considerably lower than other areas of the city.

Fontaine Ferry Park

Fontaine Ferry Park

Fontaine Ferry Park was an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky from 1905 to 1969. Located in Louisville's West End on , it offered over 50 rides and attractions, as well as a swimming pool, skating rink and theatre...

, an early amusement park, was located at the end of Market Street from 1905 to 1969.

As a southern city, many of Louisville's public facilities were segregated

Racial segregation

Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

. The park system was no exception to this rule. Shawnee Park contained Fontaine Ferry Park

Fontaine Ferry Park

Fontaine Ferry Park was an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky from 1905 to 1969. Located in Louisville's West End on , it offered over 50 rides and attractions, as well as a swimming pool, skating rink and theatre...

, a popular amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

. The amusement park was restricted to Blacks, with the exception of "negro days" which was a common occurrence for opening segregated facilities limited to Blacks in the south. However, during the early days of integration there was a race riot

Race riot

A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...

 at Fontaine Ferry which resulted in the amusement park being closed. This left Louisville without an amusement park until the late 1980s when Kentucky Kingdom was built.

Today, Shawnee Park is a community asset for the African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 Community of Louisville. The park is used as an unofficial central gathering place for youths of Western Louisville. This is evident especially in the Summer when thousands of youth pack the park over the weekend, primarily on Saturdays. Several festivals are held at Shawnee year round which attract attendants from across the nation. Shawnee's popularity is ironic and seen as bittersweet by some older African Americans in Louisville because of its segregated past.

Chickasaw Park

Chickasaw Park

Chickasaw Park is a municipal park in Louisville, Kentucky's west end. It is fronted to the west by the Ohio River. It was formerly the country estate of political boss John Henry Whallen, and began development as a park in 1923, but was not completed until the 1930s...

, less than two mile south of Shawnee on the banks of the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 was open to blacks during segregation. With the advent of integration, many residents prefer Shawnee, which is larger with more amenities than modest Chickasaw.

In September 2007, Shawnee residents voted to ban liquor sales in four precincts of the neighborhood in an effort to combat crime. Shawnee suffered from a rash of unsolved murders in 2005, although crime rates have since declined.

As of 2000, the population of Shawnee was 12,630.

External links

• Street map of Shawnee
• http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISORESTMP=results.php&CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer.php&CISOMODE=grid&CISOGRID=thumbnail,A,1;title,A,1;descri,200,0;none,200,0;none,A,0;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOBIB=title,A,1,N;subjec,A,0,N;descri,200,0,N;none,A,0,N;none,A,0,N;20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOTHUMB=20%20(4x5);title,none,none,none,none&CISOTITLE=20;title,none,none,none,none&CISOHIERA=20;subjec,title,none,none,none&CISOSUPPRESS=0&CISOTYPE=link&CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=title&CISOBOX1=&CISOOP2=exact&CISOFIELD2=coveraa&CISOBOX2=Shawnee+%28Louisville%2C+Ky.%29&CISOOP3=exact&CISOFIELD3=descri&CISOBOX3=&CISOOP4=exact&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOBOX4=&c=exact&CISOROOT=all Images of Shawnee (Louisville, Ky.) in the University of Louisville Libraries Digital Collections]
• "Shawnee: Farms of the 1800s Gave Way to Park and Dignified Homes; Racial Makeup Has Changed" — Article by John C. Pillow of The Courier-Journal
  The Courier-Journal
  The Courier-Journal, locally called "The C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.- Origins :The...