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The Original Highlands is a historic neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The neighborhood was
built on land surveyed in 1774 and granted to Colonial William Preston,
surveyor of Fincastle County, Virginia. He died in
1781, and eventually his son, Major William Preston, and wife moved onto the
land in 1814 and established a plantation called the "Briar Patch".
The 1819 construction of the Louisville
and Bardstown Turnpike (now Bardstown
Road) would eventually lead to many people moving
to the area. Before the American Civil War the area was agricultural
and attracted many German immigrants, and was known as New Hamburg.
Formal subdivision began after the land was inherited by Preston's
daughter, Susan Preston Christy (after whom Christy Avenue is named). In 1869, Sydney
J. Rogers subdivided Hepburn
Avenue between Barrett and Baxter. Interest in the
neighborhood picked up with the extension of a horse-drawnstreetcar line to Highland Avenue
in 1871. The next subdivision was Hughes Addition, starting in 1875. Much of
the rest of the land was subdivided by William Preston Johnson by 1891. The
last was the Barr Subdivision in 1896.
The neighborhood is home to the Original Highlands Art and Music Festival.
Held on Baxter Avenue
each September, the festival features local and national music acts along with
art and vendor booths.
wikipedia.org