In concluding this history it will be well to look back and examine the ratio of its progress for the last half century, as well in population as in pecuniary value. This may be done: first, in the following table showing the increase in numbers of every ten years; and second, in a tabular view of the assessment of real estate at the end of each similar term of years. The population of Louisville then, commencing with the year 1800, may be stated as follows:

It will be seen from this table that the city has never shown as rapid an increase as has been effected in the last two years. This is the result chiefly of the impulse which has been given to Louisville by her action in reference to lines of railroad, and other facilities of communication with distant points, as well as of the fact that a new energy has been infused into the commercial circles, and more vigorous efforts have consequently been made to afford to this city that reputation as a commercial mart, which she has long deserved.

Of the present population of Louisville, no less than 18,000 are Germans, and this number is daily being augmented by arrivals from the fatherland. It would perhaps be no more than just to say that these foreigners form, as a body, one of the best classes of our population. They are a careful, pains-taking and industrious people, of quiet, unobtrusive and inoffensive manners; and are, in a majority of instances, men of some education and ability. The better class of this population are rapidly rising in public estimation, and while they are becoming in a measure identified with the native citizens, and so Americanized, the influence of their philosophic habits of mind, of their thoughtfulness, and of their love of the beautiful in nature and in art, is gradually incorporating itself into the social life of the city, and so adding to each some of the advantages possessed by the other. The German character, in its higher developements, displays many attributes which are wanting, in more senses than one to our native population. From the educated German, we may learn that enthusiastic love and reverence for the intellectual and for the beautiful in all its phases, whether of nature, of sentiment, or of art, which is inherent in his character, and which gives to life so much of its charm; while by us he is taught that practicality must be the basis of his philosophy, and that without a certain admixture of utilitarianism his sentiment is mawkish and unmanly, and his theories are idly speculative and puerile. Thus each class imbibes from the other what it most needs, and society reaps the benefits of the union. The German population is also useful to the city in a political point of view. They serve as the “filling up” to the picture. As has been recently said: “The bulk of the population of every city, perhaps two out of three, are small manufacturers or artisans of some description or other, and those dependent on them; of the sewers together of clothing, the makers of toys, confectionary, and jewelry, the compounders of materials used in medicine and the arts, the furnishers of the toilet, the parlor, and the kitchen, the fabricators of iron, wood, and stone into forms required by the uses or fancies of man. Think of the amount of our yearly purchases of Boston bonnets, New York caps, and Philadelphia shoes, and of the thousand, the innumerable articles that our retail and fancy dealers pick up in the lanes, alleys, and cellars of those cities, articles which were made for Western demand, for the very market of which this is the natural, and ought to be the commercial center. To this kind of population we are to look for increase, these hand workers are to cover our vacant lots, and consume the products of our surrounding agriculturists; they come in silently, and go to work unnoticed; the grocer at the corner, the baker, and the brewer, build higher houses, and are men of more noise and note, and we forget that for every one of the latter there must be one hundred of the former.”[22]

It is precisely the class spoken of in the foregoing extract that is being built up, and is yet to be built up by the German citizens in Louisville. And, notwithstanding the number already here, there is yet room and work for many more. As has already been said the advent of artizans of this class is desired by the city, and, if they can be content to rise to wealth by slow and steady increase rather than by rapid strides of progress, their success is infallibly certain. Other inducements will also be offered to this and to other classes of people, seeking homes and investments, in considering the value of real estate in Louisville. Let us first look at the progress of property valuation during the last half century, as shown in the following table. The assessment valuation of property was, in

This valuation is much smaller than that of the same quantity of property would be in any other American city, and this very fact has been urged against Louisville by her rival neighbors. They insist that the low price of property here is a proof that the trade of the city is not progressive, that hence no inducements are offered, either to the emigrant or to the capitalist. A slight examination of the subject, however, will show why property has not advanced here in the same ratio as in other cities, and will also demonstrate the fact that the very argument which is urged against Louisville, is really a matter of serious congratulation to her. It is not denied that land can be had within one mile south of the center of the city at from two to three hundred dollars per acre, whereas land similarly situated either in Pittsburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis or New Orleans would command nearly, if not quite four times that price. On the contrary, it is urged that this should be and that it is at once claimed as a strong recommendation both to the capitalist and to the emigrant, in favor of this city. The reason why this difference exists in favor of Louisville, is thus plainly shown. If the reader will take up the map of Kentucky and Indiana, and, commencing at the mouth of Harrod’s Creek, which empties into the Ohio river eight miles above the city, will draw a line down to a point five miles below the mouth of Salt river, and another line thence southwardly for a distance of sixteen miles; and from this point draw a gradually decreasing arc back to the point of beginning, he will have enclosed a space of country, every foot of which is entirely level, is delightfully watered, abounds in building material of every description, and is equally as well suited to all purposes of building, as are the best lots now within the city limits. Nor is this all; crossing the Ohio river at the foot of the Indiana Knobs, one mile below New Albany, and going north-east a distance of sixteen miles, and thence back to the Ohio river at or near Utica, a triangle is formed whose base is twelve miles long, and whose other legs reach about twenty miles to the apex. The space embraced within this triangle possesses precisely the same characteristics as that contained in the arc above mentioned. When it is remembered, as has been said by another writer upon the same subject, that we have “no need to encroach on arms of the sea as at Boston or New York, or to raze hills in the rear as at Pittsburg and Cincinnati, or to make embankments and to reclaim swamps as at New Orleans,” but on the contrary, that we possess a location where building lots equally good, both as to site and material, may be had at one mile and at ten miles distant from the center of the city, the mystery of our cheap lots begins to be evolved. Here is a space of level country beyond the reach of any flood, all parts of which are equally well adapted to the purposes of the builder, sufficiently large to contain within its limits the cities of London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, with the foundation for a large city already laid, with a location which, in reference to facilities of intercourse with the rest of the United States, is unsurpassed; at the only point of obstruction in a continuous line of two thousand miles of inland navigation; a half-way house between North and South; a point through which all the great railroad arteries must of necessity pass; in the center of the most fertile and productive agricultural lands in the Union; in a State distinguished for the nobility and chivalry of character of its inhabitants, with every advantage which nature can give to the merchant, the manufacturer or the idle man of wealth and fashion; what is there, in view of all these circumstances, to prevent it from becoming the Great City of the West? What other inducements could be asked either by the capitalist at home or the emigrant from abroad? Does the cheapness of property or do the low prices of rents prove obstacles to either of these classes of people? Does the fertility of the surrounding country, and the consequent cheapness of the markets draw away any who might otherwise be attracted hither? Is one of these present the reason why Louisville is not already what she must inevitably become, the first city in the West. The reason is contained in the fact, not that these things are true, but that being true, they are not known. It is to her own supineness, to her indifference and lack of ambition to attain the rank to which she is entitled, that she is indebted for her second-rate position. Had the energy of the last two years been invested ten years ago, and been continued till now, the population of Louisville would to-day have been one hundred thousand souls. But she has been content to sit languidly down to the enjoyment of the passing hour, while her competitors were bracing every nerve and straining every muscle, not only to surpass her in the race for supremacy, but to disable and destroy her. She has at last awakened to a sense of her position, her lethargy is at last thrown off, and now the struggle begins in earnest. If it be continued in earnest it is easy to see that she can rapidly regain her place, and easily bear off the palm.

Let us look for a moment at the geographical position of Louisville, and her facilities of intercourse with other portions of the country. The following table of distances, time, conveyance and cost will readily show this:

In a very few years, Cincinnati, Nashville and St. Louis, will be connected with us by railroads, which are already partly completed, and so reduce the time to those cities to six, eight, and twelve hours respectively. These communications once established, Louisville becomes the very center of a vast network of roads, connecting different climates, the products of different soils and regions of every diversity of wealth. The railroad to Nashville connects immediately with Charleston, and thence opens roads to New Orleans and Mobile; while in another direction it reaches Richmond, Va., passing through immense tracts of rich agricultural and mineral lands. The railroad to Cincinnati opens to us the whole North and East; while that to St. Louis will ultimately bring to our doors the products of the Pacific Coast and the treasures of the modern El Dorado. Add to all these advantages the unavoidable effects of these railroads, in bringing to light all the possible wealth of the countries through which they pass, and then say if anything but the most criminal neglect of the advantages which Nature has given her, can prevent Louisville from arriving at the most prominent rank among Western cities. Does the capitalist desire an investment? Where can he better find it than near a city thus situated, and one where lands are sold at less prices, and building materials are cheaper and are more accessible than in any other city of the Union? Does the emigrant desire a home? Where can he better find it than near a city thus situated, one where the whole of his little fortune is not required to buy him a shelter from the winds and the rain, one that is yet unfilled with eager competitors in the struggle for wealth, one where the products of his industry are needed and will be eagerly taken from his hands at their fair value, one where he can have not only a field for his own struggle with the world, but a place and a circle of friends possessing all those attributes which make a home happy? It cannot be but that as publicity is given to these advantages possessed by this city, she will attract to her thousands of emigrants from abroad, and thousands of capitalists and adventurers from other parts of our country. While other cities have been spending time and means and influence in advocating their claims to consideration, Louisville has been silent. She gives publicity to her merits now for the first time, and, by this humble little missive, she begs only for a fair hearing and for an unbiassed consideration of her claims to public favor, satisfied that if these can be secured her, she need have no fear that the highest dreams of ambition which have ever been presented to her will be fully realized.