Main Street, 600 & 700 Block (Buildings), Louisville, Jefferson County, KY

Significance: Although long considered only as a busy commercial hub, the site of Main Street roughly between Fifth and Ninth Streets has been the location of many other uses and events some vital to the origin of the city itself. Just prior to 1800, the falls of the Ohio in the vicinity of the present Main Street had received the attention of a number of explorers and adventurers seeking to establish a base for the exploitation of western resources and a mercantile link between the East and West. Beginning with a survey of the region of the falls made in 1766, the path towards permanent settlement and the development of the Main Street tract was irreversibly begun. In that year Capt. Thomas Hutchins was at the falls and produced a map which appeared in various topographical works devoted to the Western Territory calling attention to the area and enhancing its chances for further exploration.
Survey number: HABS KY-147