Day 13 - May 23, 2023. Brandenburg, KY - Louisville, KY
I didn't sleep all that well last night. But - I got some research done on some local-ish UGRR info. Too bad I hadn't done it the previous night; we were within about 2km of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - the location of the Riley Farm where Josiah Henson resided. He was the enslaved person that the namesake book was based upon. In the early 1980s I remember seeing "Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site" near London (maybe in Dresden?). Who knew that all these years later I would (nearly) make this connection. Oh well - what I did find was that there is a small UGRR site in Brandenburg. WomanTours made no mention of this, and I think if we're going to see many UGRR features we're going to have to seek them out ourselves. I debated about "going rogue" by myself, but then thought maybe some others would like to see this as well. I quietly spread the word and in the end 12 of us broke from the established route to see what we could find. I was so glad I did it! The statue itself was quite tiny, but the facial expressions on both the mother and child were exquisite. I'm wondering if this is modelled on Eliza and her child in "Uncle Tom's Cabin"?
There were a few other historical markers down by the waterfront and a beautiful view of the bridge that we would soon be crossing to spend most of today's miles in Indiana.
Another very interesting monument down on the waterfront was the Civil War / Confederate monument. This monument stood in Louisville for 121 years, but was moved to Brandenburg in 2017. A newspaper article that I read claimed that Louisville (with 63% black population) wanted it gone, and Brandenburg (with 6% black population) was happy to take it. Issues of race are still very much alive in these parts!
In the end, we only added about 2 miles to our day. Across the bridge and back to Indiana. These next four signs (after the state sign) were beside an on-ramp to a pretty busy road; not sure who would ever stop to look at them.
It was a really pretty ride today, but nothing terribly remarkable. I would call it "mixed rural". It was pretty well all populated with everything from ritzy acreages to run-of-the-mill rural properties and small farms. The rolling hills went on for 35 miles and my legs were toast by the end of that. We were on very quiet roads pretty much the whole day.
Our first SAG stop was in Corydon, which was a pretty little town. Casey found a great spot at a little park right downtown. The population is now about 3,000 but it was the capital of the Indiana Territory from 1813 to 1816. It still looks relatively prosperous.
Not many pictures until we finished the hills at about 37 miles.
We had a really fun downhill run, and into the city of New Albany at about 42 miles. It was the largest city in Indiana from 1816 until 1860. It's right across the river from Louisville KY. We rode through New Albany and along the waterfront before crossing a pedestrian bridge right into downtown Louisville. For many fugitive slaves, New Albany was their first stop in a "free" state. The first bridge connecting the two cities was built in 1886.
We had an interesting stop at the Carnegie Center for Art & History. They had a fabulous exhibit on the UGRR as well as a small but creative quilt exhibit.
I rode a bit off-route on the way out of town to go by the Town Clock Church, now called the Second Baptist Church. It was constructed in 1852 and was an important station on the UGRR. It has a 160-foot high clock tower that could be seen by boat crews on the Ohio River.
We made our way from downtown to the riverfront bike path via a doorway in the concrete dike wall. Apparently in January 1937 a major flood struck the region leaving most of the town under 10 or more feet of water for nearly three weeks. There are now massive flood walls and berms all along the waterfront.
William Clark (of the Lewis & Clark expedition) was from around here, so this is where they set off on their journey to explore the west. Lots of info along the waterfront path.
Unfortunately the Interpretive Center was closed for HVAC repairs, but the location provided a great view over to downtown Louisville.
More interesting sights as we rode by Clarksville and Jeffersonville on the bike path.
Louisville, Kentucky
Population 633,045 (2020). Metro area population is 1.4 million. Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky. The city is named after King Louis XVI of France and was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark. With the nearby Falls of the Ohio as the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site.
Stats for the day:
Distance: 85.0 km / 52 miles
Elevation (Garmin): 1032m up / 1026m down. 3385' up / 3365' down.
Elevation (RWGPS): 903m up / 957m down. 2962' up / 3139' down.
Weather: 17C - 34C (although it read as high as 39C when I was off the bike looking around). Beautiful day. Sunny. Very little wind. Got the climbing done early-ish in the day.
Comments
Post a Comment