The areas first rural brick house, west of the Kentucky River was built in 1788 in what became known as Cave Hill Farm, between what is now sections 33 & 34 in the cemetery. The property was divided into smaller parcels after the owner, William Johnston, died in 1797.
The city tore down William Johnston's farm house in 1872 which had been used as a Pest House (for people with communicable diseases). A three story "hospital for Eruptive Diseases" was built to replace the house but before the building was complete there was an outbreak of yellow fever and the city established a temporary hospital on the U of L Belknap Campus. The Cave Hill building was never used as intended.
In the late 1870s the mayor converted the hospital into a maternity facility called the Forest Hill Lying-In Hospital, which operated for 6 years. In the early 1880s the hospital was converted into an inebriate home and sanitarium and in 1886 it became a school for boys. In 1898 it became known as Beechhurst Sanitarium, again for treatment of mental and nervous disorders (since known as the insane asylum). The structure was torn down in 1936.
A groundskeeper mowing the lawn in the late 1970s hit the gravestone of Kentucky's Giant, Jim Porter, at 7' 8" tall, which revealed a hole in the side of the hill. When the young man looked into the hole he saw the rotted wooden casket and Jim's foot with a large shoe on it. The gravestone was repaired and you can still see its patch today.
One hundred and fifty years ago or so, the land in the back N.E. corner of the cemetery was being used as a quarry. The workers there went home at the end of the day and when they returned the next morning they found their wagons and tools were under 50 ft. of water. They had hit a spring and the quarry had filled up with water overnight. In the late 20th century the cemetery hired divers to go down and search the area. They found their tools perfectly preserved by the spring water, just the way they had left them.
The natural rolling landscape that you see in the cemetery is what all of this area used to look like. The land in Louisville has been graded to make it flatter and easier to travel over and build upon.
The most visited monument in the cemetery is that of Colonel Sanders. The design for his monument suggests the KFC headquarters building. It frames a bust created by his daughter before his death in 1973. The Colonel died in Dec. 1980.
In the 1860s Lexington Rd. was shown on an area map as the "Shelbyville Branch Turnpike" and Bardstown Rd. was shown as the "Louisville and Bardstown Turnpike Road".
There is only one family cemetery plot with a fence around it. The Douglas Lot. in section G. The family sold 49 acres to the cemetery in 1863 with the agreement that the fence around the lot would remain.
Who are some of the famous people buried in Cave Hill? The designer of the confederate flag, the teacher who wrote the "Happy Birthday" song, the man who created the Kentucky Derby, the man who invented the Hot Brown, and of course the man who invented Kentucky Fried Chicken.
The cemetery has good Feng Shui. There are hardly any sharp angles or grid patterns to the layout of the avenues, creating a flow of energy.
Before Kentucky was admitted to the union in 1792 the cemetery land was at the western edge of what was known as the Kentucky District of Virginia.
Another entrance, from Payne St., into the military section, that is no longer in use, was added in 1910.
Originally all of the brick fences protecting the cemetery were made of wood. It wasn't until the early 1980s that the cemetery really got tough on people entering after hours and began protecting the property with razor wire.
When the clocktower was built in 1892 it was the tallest structure in the area and the angel on top was frequently hit by lightening. It was rebuilt in 2001.
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