Hidden Location #17
Ok, this one might be considered "inside knowledge." And it is. Below are two pictures of a location of what was considered in an October 1869 deed and subdivision dedication to be a "common" alley. Usually the word "common" in a deed relates a legal status as "of being for the public use." For many years, this alley appeared on some maps of Louisville based on that 1869 usage. However, in doing some research in 2008 on properties adjoining this "common alley" I found that the word "common" as used in the deed referred only to the adjoining properties and not to the public as a whole. The alley has been removed from most maps as a public right-of-way since the late 1950s.
Your task is to identify either the location, which should be simple for some of you; or, a more difficult challenge, to name the alley. Yes, it has a name, spelled two different ways, but a name nonetheless. Locating it should be easy. Naming it shouldn't.
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Hidden Location
5 comments:
Of course, this is located at 207 South 5th Street, Louisville, KY.
It's not Reed's Alley. I bet you thought someone would fall for that.
Read Alley. I'm done.
Sorry I missed this being posted earlier, the alley has been referred to as the "Pissing Alley" if memory serves me.
Marty
WE're giving credit on this one. Fr. John Schwartzlose, a friend of mine who is pastor at St. Gregory's in Samuels, Nelson County, Kentucky gets credit for identifying the location, in the 200 block of S. 5th Street, opposite the Stock Yards Bank. My friend Curtis Morrison get double credits. He not only identifed the site, but the name, albeit spelled incorrectly, as Reed. The deed I read from dated October 1869 calls the alley Reid Alley. Curtis has pointed out to me there are other alleys in the general area by the same name. I wonder if Reid is a name which works the same way "Potter's Field" does for certain cemeteries. What started as a hidden location for my seven faithful readers ends up as, maybe, a hidden identity for me, and some additional research will be forthcoming. Thanks to all who played.
JN
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