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Circa 1905. "Ohio River levee at Louisville, Kentucky." Note the "U.S. Life Saving Station." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The Big 4 bridge in the background is now a pedestrian bridge connecting the 2 sides (finally). It's a great addition to downtown.
The bridge in the background appears to be the "Big Four" bridge which was built to carry the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis railroad (Big Four) across the Ohio River. If it is the Big Four bridge it is the first one; the bridge became inadequate for the traffic and was replaced in the late twenties. The Big Four eventually was merged into the New York Central and railroad traffic on the bridge was ceased. In recent years the bridge has been restored to allow pedestrian and bicycle traffic to cross the river.
That Old Reliable Laundry cart in the middle looked pretty new - so I looked and found a Google Book's result that said it was Organized Aug, 4, 1904, for $3,000 and paid $3 in tax. So, the cart (or the paint job on the cart) was probably a year old or so old when the picture was taken.
The Life Saving Station(#10) is still there and is now used as the wharfboat for the historic sternwheeler Belle of Louisville.
[The present Life Saving Station #10 dates from 1929. -tterrace]
There sure is a lot going on in this photo!
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