Architecture Collections

Architecture Collections

Collection Overview

The Filson’s architectural holdings illustrate the Ohio River Valley’s built environment from the mid-19th century through present day. The archive contains design and construction records representing more than sixty unique architectural firms, architects, landscape architects, and/or projects. Project types vary from residential to commercial, industrial design and landscape, as well as educational, cemetery and park design, railroad, and religious—to name only a few.  The Filson holds a range of materials from the design process, from early creative sketches and concept drawings, to final construction drawings, with exact, to-scale measurements required to construct a project.

Digital Collections

Digital Architecture Collections can be found on our Omeka digital collections site. Please note that only a small portion of the Filson’s architectural archive has been digitized.

Collection Highlights

Excellence in Architectural Design: AIA Kentucky Award-Winners

In collaboration with local architects, Filson staff have identified AIA Kentucky Award Winning projects as a priority for archiving and digitization. Since 1960, the Honor Awards program of AIA Kentucky have recognized projects for Excellence in Architectural Design. The program honors works by Kentucky architects that demonstrate design excellence while promoting public awareness and appreciation of the diversity, quality and scope of Kentucky architecture. Past winners have ranged from single family homes to small commercial buildings to major public projects.

Grossman Chapman Klarer Architects (& predecessors)

Sixth & Main Parking Garage, circa 1985-1987. [Jasper Ward collection]

Sixth & Main Parking Garage, circa 1985-1987. [Jasper Ward collection]

Jasper Ward Architects

Do you have materials to add to this collection? Please contact Jana Meyer, Associate Curator of Collections, gro.l1711705854aciro1711705854tsihn1711705854oslif1711705854@reye1711705854mj1711705854. We are interested in a variety of materials related to award-winning projects: final drawings, renderings, sketches, drawings from various iterations of the design process, photographs, project files, and more. Please call or email before mailing, shipping, or bringing items on site. For more information about the donation process please visit our collections donation page.


D.X. Murphy & Bro.

D.X. Murphy & Bro., Architects was a Louisville architectural firm, successor to the firm of architect Henry Whitestone. The Murphy brothers designed many Louisville-area residences and commercial buildings, as well as several Catholic schools and churches in Kentucky. They also designed the Jefferson County Jail, the original Jewish Hospital, and the grandstand and twin spires at Churchill Downs. In 1962 D. X. Murphy became Luckett and Farley, Inc. and is still a thriving Louisville architectural firm today. This collection showcases some of the firm’s architectural drawings in the Filson’s collections.  Link to D.X. Murphy & Bro. digital collection.

Stratton O. Hammon

Stratton Owen Hammon (1904-1997) was a Louisville architect who gained national recognition, especially for his residential designs, after starting his own business in 1929. During World War II, Hammon joined the Army Corps of Engineers and was involved in architectural and construction projects such as the Naval Ordinance Plant, Bowman and Standiford Fields, Nichols General Hospital, and Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot. After the war, Hammon returned to Louisville and formed the architectural firm Hammon and Hammon with his son Neal in the 1950s. This collection showcases some of the Stratton Hammon architectural drawings in the Filson’s collections.  Link to Stratton Hammon digital collection.

Research

The architectural collections can be searched through various portals both online and in-house.

A recent list of our architecture collections can be accessed here; each entry is linked to a finding aid or catalog record that provides more details about the collection.

The Manuscript Database provides subject-level descriptions to content from each architectural collection. Finding Aids describe our larger collections and often link to a project inventory, which contains a detailed description of each project within the collection. This collection continues to grow, so check back regularly for updates. For research questions, please email .gro.1711705854lacir1711705854otsih1711705854nosli1711705854f@hcr1711705854aeser1711705854

Are you researching a home or building? Check out our research guides to get started!

AIA-CKC Fellowship

Since 2018, the Filson Historical Society and the American Institute of Architects Central Kentucky Chapter (AIA-CKC)  have partnered to provide architecture students with the opportunity to develop professional archiving skills and knowledge at one of the region’s premier historical research institutions. Fellows are recruited from the University of Kentucky’s College of Design, and catalog, describe, and digitize architecture collections. Their work makes new collections available to researchers and fosters scholarship and public interest in the architectural history of Louisville and the Ohio Valley. For application questions please contact Jana Meyer, Associate Curator of Collections, gro.l1711705854aciro1711705854tsihn1711705854oslif1711705854@reye1711705854mj1711705854.

Fellow Presentations

Students pursue projects based on their individual interests. At the end of the fellowship, they present their findings in a public forum at the Filson. Some of our past fellow presentations are highlighted below.

Old Louisville: Community Life in a Preservation District

Katherine Chaudoin - August 15, 2023

The Failure of Shippingport Square: Urban Renewal on the Waterfront

Max Brown - September 20, 2022

Archiving Architecture

Dona Daugherty, Abigail Stephens, and Elizabeth Standridge - October 12, 2021