Notable Louisville Neighborhoods: Tour of Portland
Cost: Member $20; Non-member $25. This tour has been sold out.
Welcome to a captivating tour of Portland, where history lives on in a vibrant present rich with creativity and community. Led by passionate, knowledgeable Portland residents and culture workers, this journey will explore the intriguing landmarks, institutions, and stories that have shaped this proud, unique, and diverse neighborhood, which began as its own independent port city. We will learn about Portland History at the Portland Museum, Shippingport Island, The Marine Hospital (one of the most significant remaining antebellum hospitals in the United States) and the Portland Wharf. Stops at Louisville Visual Arts, and the neighborhood revitalization project Love City, will introduce participants to present day artists and innovators in the area. The tour will also include a Portland Black history spotlight on some of the many sights on the Portland African American Heritage Trail including the enslaved river crossing, The Portland Memorial Baptist Church, and the site of the former Portland Colored School (later renamed the Colonel Charles Young School). Participants will receive detailed maps and limited-edition Letter-pressed timelines, hand printed in Portland.
Ed White is a third generation Portland resident. His grandparents moved to Portland from South Central Kentucky after the Civil War, eventually purchasing a home on Lytle St. An educator, artist, musician and community worker, Ed has been researching and sharing and sharing Portland’s Black history through a multi-format exhibit and story collecting project called Roots on the River: The Black Presence in Portland, which he began in 2022as a Filson Historical Society Community History. Vice Chair of the Portland Museum Board of Directors, Ed currently resides again on Lytle Street in the neighborhood of his youth.
In 2014, Danny Seim moved from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Kentucky. After purchasing the best house on earth in Portland, he decided to get involved in his new community. He began painting buildings and murals, making public art sculptures, picking up litter, taking photos, writing essays and renovating houses. An artist, musician, father, and dedicated Portland advocate and explorer, Danny has served as the Vice President of Portland Now, Inc. And Chair of the Portland Art and Heritage Festival. He is now the Director of Louisville’s premiere children’s museum coming soon to the Portland Museum campus: AHOY, The Adventure House of You.
