Shively, Kentucky
Encyclopedia
Shively is a city in Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...

, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 15,157 at the 2000 census. It is located southwest of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 and directly adjoins the larger city. Shively is centered around the junction of US 60 and the Dixie Highway
U.S. Route 31W
U.S. Route 31W is the westernmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Route 31 from Nashville, Tennessee to Louisville, Kentucky. At one time, it split with U.S...

.

History

Shively was first settled and farmed around 1780, along with much of the rest of Jefferson County. It is named for early landowner Christian William Shively, who settled his 1000 acres (4 km²) tract in 1810. He established a mill on what is still called Mill Creek. The area came to be known as the Shively precinct.

Shively donated land for a church in 1816, and it has lived on and is today Parkview Methodist. Shortly before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 immigrants, mostly Catholics, began moving to the area and operating truck farms. Some would continue to operate as late as the 1930s. The first post office opened in 1902, and residents chose the name Shively for it. Their first choice was St. Helens, after St. Helen Catholic Church, established in 1897. But that was already taken by a post office in Lee County
Lee County, Kentucky
Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 7,916. Its county seat is Beattyville. It is a prohibition or dry county.-History:...

, and the name Shively was chosen. A streetcar line was extended to the area in 1904.

Eight whiskey distilleries opened in the area after prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 ended, and this played an important role in the city's history when Depression-era Louisville soon tried to annex the area largely for the tax dollars the distilleries would generate. To avoid annexation by the much larger Louisville, Shively incorporated as a city on May 23, 1938 and annexed the distilleries four days later, acquiring a $20 million tax base. This revenue stream made the city quite well funded through the 1960s, and it was the state's fastest growing city in the 1950s - fueled by its jobs and location near more urban Louisville areas. Located south of Louisville's West End, Shively was a favorite location for many families leaving that area as it became racially integrated.

In the 1950s and 1960s Shively was seen as an all-white suburb and became the site of controversy and national headlines in 1954 when activists Carl and Anne Braden
Anne Braden
Anne McCarty Braden was an American advocate of racial equality. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised in rigidly segregated Anniston, Alabama, Braden grew up in a white middle-class family that accepted southern racial morals wholeheartedly...

 bought a house there and sold it to a black family, who moved in. Shots were fired into the house, and eventually a bomb exploded under their daughter's bedroom. No one was harmed, and no one was ever convicted of the crime.

Increased taxes and a change in consumer tastes lead to the closure of most of the distilleries in the late 1960s. Shively's population has gradually declined since reaching 19,223 in 1970. Budget surpluses became shortfalls, and Shively tried but failed to annex the more suburban nearby area of Pleasure Ridge Park in 1984. That year the town was hit with a scandal when Police Chief Michael Donio admitted to taking bribes to allow prostitution in the area.

The area's fortunes have since improved somewhat, with various public works projects occurring and some businesses moving to the area. However, the area along Seventh Street north of Dixie is still known for its seedy adult entertainment businesses. Into the 2000s the area still lagged behind Eastern and Southern Jefferson County, with one of its few remaining large retail centers, the 150000 square feet (13,935.5 m²) Dillard's
Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is a department store chain in the United States, with 330 stores in 29 states. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dillard's locations are concentrated in Texas and Florida; with a major presence in other states including Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri,...

 on Dixie Highway, which had opened in 1956, closing in 2007 due to unusually slow sales at that location (the chain itself was profitable in the Louisville region).

Shively's modern boundaries are roughly Millers and Bernheim Lane to the north (Louisville's Algonquin
Algonquin, Louisville
Algonquin is a neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Its boundaries are Hill street to the north, Cypress Street to the west, CSX tracks to the east, and Bernheim Lane and Algonquin Parkway to the south. It was established in the 1920s and is primarily a residential neighborhood, named for...

 neighborhood), Seventh Street to the east, I-264
Interstate 264 (Kentucky)
The Henry Watterson Expressway, also known as the Georgia Davis Powers/Shawnee Expressway west of US 31W, is one of two Interstate Highways in the United States designated as Interstate 264 . It is 22.93 miles in length, and runs an open circle around central Louisville, Kentucky...

 to the west, and Rockford Lane to the south. St. Dennis
St. Dennis, Kentucky
St. Dennis is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,177 at the 2000 census. In 2003, The area was annexed to the city of Louisville due to a merger between the city and Jefferson County's unincorporated communities. St. Dennis is now a...

 is to the west, and Pleasure Ridge Park is to the south. The city of Louisville is also to the east.

Geography

Shively is located at 38.193175°N 85.816166°W.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 15,157 people, 6,667 households, and 4,080 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 3,271.1 people per square mile (1,264.0/km²). There were 6,929 housing units at an average density of 1,495.4 per square mile (577.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.26% White, 30.32% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.78% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.39% of the population.

There were 6,667 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 85.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,422, and the median income for a family was $38,652. Males had a median income of $31,368 versus $25,190 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $17,574. About 12.2% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.7% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

External links

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