Louisville's Columbia Building in ruins

The Columbia Building

Begun in 1888, and opened on January 1, 1890, Louisville's first skyscraper and once the "tallest building in the Western Hemisphere south of the Ohio River," came down in late1966 to make way for the new Galt House Hotel, Louisville Trust Bank and Belvedere complex. This eyesore nearly didn't get torn down at all, until several banks and a local developer came to the rescue with the additional funding the city required..

The Columbia Building

Introduction	The Thumbnail Images	Acknowledgements
The Old Post Office Demolition 1942-3 The Post Office in the 1920s The demolished interior The interior about 1900 Lincoln Park Site of River City Mall-(4th Street, 1920s)	The 2nd Presbyterian Church In ruins, 1956 2nd and Broadway St. X College The James C Ford Mansion The Ford Mansion in winter Enlargement Inside the Ford Mansion An Empty Lot	The Warren Memorial Church Demolition, 1958 The Warren Memorial in 1923 Norton Hall The Bus Station
The National Theater In ruins, 1952 In better days Show Time	The Masonic Temple In ruins, 1956	The Rialto Demolition, 1969 The Rialto during the 1920s
The Columbia Building Demolition 1966 Columbia Building ca. 1900 Columbia Building ca. 1920	The Washington Building Demolition 1973 In 1907 Cornice Detail	Clear-cutting the city Wholesale demolition, 1974 The Tyler Block, 1974 Tyler Block, 1931 A Foreign City Convention Center
	Conclusion