California History
California was settled by German immigrants around the time of the 1849 Gold Rush, thus the source of its name as Louisville’s western-most neighborhood at the time. African-American residents first moved into California School and a local branch of the Freedman’s Bureau serving as two anchor institutions.
The California neighborhood developed as a solid, stable community of working families who owned their homes. Over the last decade, the decline in population in the neighborhood stabilized to some degree, although its population has aged. The rate of homeownership remains higher than many inner-city communities, dropping from more than 60%, but stabilizing at 48% over the last decade. The California neighborhood also is home to a number of major corporate citizens, the most prominent of which is the corporate headquarters for Brown-Forman Corp., the Fortune 500 company whose bourbon production plant has been there since 1889 who funded $250,000 in renovations and housing projects in the area. Another major employer, Phillip Morris, closed its cigarette plant in 2000 and deeded this major industrial site to the city for redevelopment.
California History
California was settled by German immigrants around the time of the 1849 Gold Rush, thus the source of its name as Louisville’s western-most neighborhood at the time. African-American residents first moved into California School and a local branch of the Freedman’s Bureau serving as two anchor institutions.
The California neighborhood developed as a solid, stable community of working families who owned their homes. Over the last decade, the decline in population in the neighborhood stabilized to some degree, although its population has aged. The rate of homeownership remains higher than many inner-city communities, dropping from more than 60%, but stabilizing at 48% over the last decade. The California neighborhood also is home to a number of major corporate citizens, the most prominent of which is the corporate headquarters for Brown-Forman Corp., the Fortune 500 company whose bourbon production plant has been there since 1889 who funded $250,000 in renovations and housing projects in the area. Another major employer, Phillip Morris, closed its cigarette plant in 2000 and deeded this major industrial site to the city for redevelopment.