Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Hidden Location #9 Revealed

Hidden Location #9 managed to stump the panel. The picture was taken in the 2100 block of Peabody Lane facing just east of due north. Marty and "Anonymous" were both correct on the assertion that it was in the former City of Louisville. Marty added it was outside the Watterson Expressway, which he euphemistically referred to as the "Circle of Love," an appellation conjured up by Louisville's 50th mayor, Greg Fischer, who was inaugurated on January 3. The giveaways for that are existing sidewalks along with street lights, a staple for subdivisions and streets in the old City where property owners pay two tax bills as opposed to one, as they do in unincorporated parts of Jefferson County, many of which are closeby on the other side of Bardstown Road in the areas around and including Seneca High School.

Peabody, or this section of Peabody, along with streets named Belmont, Palmer, Moulton, and Sumner, make up the subdivision originally known as Village Green. There are also houses fronting on what is now called Goldsmith Lane in the subdivision. It is the only subdivision I know of where nearly every house has extended, or much wider, eaves that is customary on the suburbs. Most of these homes were built with 1050 to 1150 square feet of space.

The subdivision was built along the south side of what was then known as Meyers Lane in the mid 1950s. The easiest way to describe it to many Louisvillians would be to say it is the area behind Toy Tiger. Of course, if you haven't been around for a while you may not know what that means, so a second definition would be the area behind the Showcase Cinemas. Oh wait, they're gone, too.

The extended eaves can be seen in the picture which would be a dead giveaway to anyone who is familiar with Louisville's suburbs.

I do not have a new location waiting to be identified. I'll get one soon.

2 comments:

JeffNClifton said...

Great back-story on Village Green. I did not know that the Goldsmith Lane section of roadway west of Bardstown Road was originally called Meyers Lane. And one of the quirkiest things I love about Louisville is how born & bred residents give directions or tell stories referencing long-lost landmarks.

Curtis Morrison said...

The "Circle of Love" was an appellation conjured up not by Louisville's 50th mayor, but by a Louisville woman asking him a question during the 2010 general mayoral election season. This is from the 50th mayor's own explanation. (http://www.wlky.com/r/25008431/detail.html)

I clear this up now before it becomes an unknowable urban legend akin to Jerry Abramson's christening "The Dirty Kroger." A rumor I've often heard, enjoyed, occasionally spread, but never believed.

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Personal

Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Never married, liberal Democrat, born in 1960, opinionated but generally pleasant, member of the Episcopal Church. Graduate of Prestonia Elementary, Durrett High, and Spalding University; the first two now-closed Jefferson County Public Schools, the latter a very small liberal arts college in downtown Louisville affiliated with the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. My vocation and avocation is politics. My favorite pastime is driving the backroads of Kentucky and southern Indiana, visiting small towns, political hangouts, courthouses, churches, and cemeteries. You are welcome to ride with me sometime.