St. Matthews, Kentucky: Difference between revisions

St. Matthews, Kentucky
City
Downtown St Matthews
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Jefferson
Incorporated	1950[1]
Area
• Total	4.0 sq mi (10.4 km2)
• Land	4.0 sq mi (10.4 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	551 ft (168 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	17,472
• Density	4,368.0/sq mi (1,680.0/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code	21-67944
GNIS feature ID	0502696

St. Matthews^[2] is a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. It forms part of the Louisville Metro government but is separately incorporated as a 4th-class city. The population was 17,472 during the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the 20th-largest city in the state.

St. Matthews is one of the state's major shopping areas, home to the 2nd- and 5th-largest malls in Kentucky (Mall St. Matthews and Oxmoor Center), along with many smaller shopping centers along Shelbyville Road.

Dating the arrival of American Indians to present-day Kentucky remains controversial, with estimates ranging from 40,000 to 10,000 years before present. During the late Woodland period (c. 1st century), St Matthews was located near the boundary between the Ohioan Hopewell and Illinois Crab Orchard Cultures. Later (c. 1200), it was near the boundary between the Mississippian and Fort Ancient Cultures. During the 18th century, the area was claimed by various Indian tribes, including the Shawnee and the Iroquois.

The area eventually known as St. Matthews was first settled by Europeans in 1779 by Col. James John Floyd. Floyd, who had conducted an important survey of Jefferson County in 1774, bought 2,000 acres (8 km²) of land from soldiers who had been awarded the parcels for their service in the French and Indian War. He arrived overland on November 8, 1779, bringing several family members and a black slave. They built cabins and a stockade, which came to be known as Floyd's Station.^[3]

During the early 19th century, the area held several plantations and was known as the "garden of the state". As with most areas of the Inner Bluegrass Region, labor was general provided by African slaves. Major crops were tobacco and hemp; the breeding of livestock, primarily horses, was also important to the economy.^[4] In the years before the Civil War, Kentucky planters were generally selling their slaves at markets in Louisville for shipment to the Deep South, where European demand for sugar and cotton made them more profitable.

The community developed around the intersection of present-day Breckenridge Lane, Shelbyville Road, and Westport Road. By 1840, it was known as Gilman's Point, after local tavern owner Daniel Gilman. The name "St. Matthews" emerged in 1850 after the completion of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, the area's first. It became official in 1851 when the newly-opened post office adopted the name. Numerous other Protestant churches were founded. The oldest of three Catholic churches in the city is Holy Trinity (completed in 1882).^[5] Trinity High School was established nearby in association with the church.

St. Matthews was connected to the Louisville, Lexington, & Cincinnati Railroad, as well as a later railroad^[which?] connecting Louisville to Anchorage and Middletown. The rail ties did not greatly alter the economy of St. Matthews, however, which remained heavily agricultural well into the 20th century. From 1910 to 1946, it was home to the St. Matthews Produce Exchange, which was once the second-largest potato shipper in the country. The area finally began changing in the early 20th century as a result of urban transit and automobile traffic, which led to the gradual subdivision of the farms into residential developments. The original landowners' names – including Brown, Rudy, Nanz, Monohan, and Oeschner – were given to many of the local streets. The town's first bank was founded in 1905. A modern shopping district began developing in the 1920s that would include the landmark Vogue Theater, opened in 1938.

Growth of the area was accelerated by the Ohio River flood of 1937, which caused many families to leave low-lying ground in Louisville and move to St. Matthews. It incorporated as a city in 1950, partially to address infrastructure problems^[which?] and to build a sewer system.^{[dubious – discuss]} The Mall St. Matthews, Louisville's first indoor shopping mall, opened around this time.

In 2001, the cities of Broad Fields, Cherrywood Village, Fairmeade, Plymouth Village, and Springlee were annexed by St. Matthews.^[6]

St. Matthews is located at 38°15′0″N 85°38′33″W / 38.25000°N 85.64250°W / 38.25000; -85.64250 (38.249931, -85.642613).Template:GR According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.0 square miles (10 km²), all of it land.

The present boundaries of St. Matthews are roughly Cannons Lane to the west, I-264 to the south and east, and several subdivisions off of Brownsboro Road to the north. These include Bellewood, Brownsboro Village, Maryhill Estates and Windy Hills. The separately-incorporated cities of Richlawn and Norbourne Estates are enclaves within St. Matthews.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 15,852 people, 7,978 households, and 3,661 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,938.3 people per square mile (1,518.7/km²). There were 8,537 housing units at an average density of 2,121.0 per square mile (817.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.32% White, 4.95% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.62% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.69% of the population.

There were 7,978 households out of which 19.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.1% were non-families. 45.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 35.6% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,219, and the median income for a family was $56,473. Males had a median income of $37,306 versus $31,163 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,601. About 4.9% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

• City of St. Matthews Official site
• Images of Saint Matthews (Ky.) in the University of Louisville Libraries Digital Collections