Tag Archive: Kentucky

The Thinker – Grawemeyer Hall – University of Louisville

The Thinker - Grawemeyer Hall - University of Louisville

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A view of Grawemeyer Hall with a close-up of the Thinker statue from the Oval, on the Belknap campus of the University of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Grawemeyer Hall was built in 1926, and currently houses adminstrative offices of the university president, provost, and vice presidents. The building is named for Charles Grawemeyer, a major benefactor to the University. At one time it served as the University’s library. The building was modeled after Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia. And on its steps, stands one of the original castings of Auguste Rodin’s the Thinker.

The University of Louisville is a public research university founded in 1798, via a charter by the Kentucky General Assembly. The university moved to its current location, the Belknap campus in 1923, and became a public state university in 1970.

The university is home to the Louisville Cardinals, and includes athletic programs for baseball, football and soccer. As of 2013 the Cardinals have won 50 Big East Championships across all sports.

University of Louisville Seal – Grawemeyer Hall

University of Louisville Seal - Grawemeyer Hall

A view of the University of Louisville seal as seen in the pediment of Grawemeyer Hall.  The seal is a stylized depiction of the Roman goddess Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Minerva is the oldest institutional symbol of the university, dating back to 1830’s. Louisville is Kentucky’s largest city, and founded by George Rogers Clark on the banks of of the Ohio River in 1780.

Bardstown, Kentucky, Bourbon Capital of the World

Bardstown, Kentucky, Bourbon Capital of the World

With Kentucky the main producer of the world’s bourbon, and the city of Bardstown surrounded by more than 10 bourbon distilleries, this town in north-central Kentucky has branded its self as the bourbon capital of the world. Bourbon, which has been brewed in Kentucky since at least 1795, when Jim Beam introduced “Old Jake Beam Sour Mash”, is a corn-based whiskey that is aged in charred oak barrels. The rickhouses where bourbon is stored are a common site in different parts of Kentucky, and especially near Bardstown.