Things sure have changed a lot in the past 70 or so years, especially when it comes to our cities. Louisville is our largest and busiest city. The population was booming in the 1940s, but life here was quite different. People worked together and farmland was plentiful around Jefferson County. Now, we have subdivisions where farms once thrived, and factories where people fished along the Ohio River. Things sure have changed since the 1940s in Louisville Kentucky.

Here are 18 photos what life was like circa 1940s in Louisville Kentucky:

18. A canning lunch in south eastern Louisville, 1943.
Howard Hollem
17. Women gathered at the Jefferson County Cannery, paying 3 cents a can and 2 cents for use of the pressure cooker to preserve their food in 1943.
Howard Hollem
16. Workers at the Reynolds Metal Company in 1941.
Highton
15. Women canning together at the cannery.
Howard Hollem
14. Men working on marine condensers for the Army in a Louisville factory, 1942.
Alfred Palmer
13. Kane Manufacturing made 1300 pairs of military trousers each day to support the war efforts in 1941.
Unknown
12. A women working at a gas station in 1943.
Howard Hollem
11. A thriving dairy farm in 1940, now a subdivision.
Marion Post Wolcott
10. Farmland off Dixie Hwy in Louisville in 1943, now a subdivision.
Howard Hollen

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9. Soldiers gathering in Louisville to return to Fort Knox in 1943.
Esther Bubley
8. Louisville waterfront.
Marion Post Wolcott
7. Part of the Ohio in Jefferson County in 1943. There were a lot less factories.
Howard Hollem
6. Union Station had multiple trains running daily in the 1940s.
Wiki
5. Waiting room sign at the Greyhound Bus Station in Louisville.
Esther Bubley
4. The Yacht basin in 1940.
Marion Post Wolcott
3.Women working at the Wadsworth Watch Company to prepare compacts and watch plates for conversion into bomb parts.
Alfred Palmer
2. A Hep Cat car on Main Street in 1940.
Marion Post Wolcott
1. The renowned Rialto Theater, which was demolished in 1969.
Old Louisville

When you compare the 1940s in Louisville Kentucky to modern times, the difference is shocking. The community was once a simple, yet booming port town, utilized for trade along the river. River trade is no longer as important, but the city is still booming with festivals and tourism. I wasn’t here for that decade, but I’ve heard the stories via family. What do you think the biggest change is since the 1940s, and what would you like to see return?

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