In 1829, Elm Tree Gardens Racetrack was built on Shippingport Island. A gondola service ferried customers to the island. It also featured the Napoleon Distillery (Churchill Downs, are you listening?). Elm Tree Gardens was also the site of Louisville’s first amusement park; mazes, puzzle gardens, and a long rope walk. It closed in 1873 due to floods and changing times.
Alas, no photos remain of these early years. The 1850s 18th street Bridge is still being used. It was once called the Elm Tree Gardens Bridge. In the bridge photo, Elm Tree Gardens would have been on the far side from the viewer, right side of the canal.
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