Bashford Manor, Louisville

Bashford Manor is a neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Its boundaries are I-264 to the north, Bardstown Road to the east, Bashford Manor Lane to the south, and Newburg Road to the west. Originally a part of Thomas Byrd's 1,000 acre (4 km²) land grant from Virginia in 1787, James Bennett Wilder bought the land in 1870 and built a home he named Bashford Manor, after his family's home in England. He sold the property to George James Long in 1888, who turned it into a horse farm which produced three early Kentucky Derby winners: Azra, Manuel and Sir Huon. [cite news|date=|title=Art to be reminder of area's past|publisher=Courier-Journal|date=2004-12-23|last=Smith|first=Scheri]

The home stayed in his family until it was sold in 1951. It was annexed by Louisville in 1953. Many residential developments began at this time, the first being Harold Miller's Bashford Manor gardens in 1952. [cite encyclopedia |ency=The Encyclopedia of Louisville |edition=1 |year=2001 |article=Bashford Manor] Other subdivisions included Manorview and the largest single subidivision, Village Green. Apartment complexes were built during the 1960s, and commercial developments such as Watterson City in 1965. By the 1970s Watterson City was Louisville's largest suburban commercial center, and Bashford Manor Mall was built in the area.

The area went into a decline by the 1990s, with the mall and other businesses (such as a once thriving multiplex cinema) closing, although the situation improved in the 2000s when a Wal-mart and a Lowe's were built on the site of the old mall. [cite news|title=Area home sales set to break record|publisher=Courier-Journal|last=Berzof|first=Ken|date=2004-11-13|page=1D]

Bashford Manor Mall

Bashford Manor Mall, named for the surrounding neighborhood, was an enclosed mall which opened in 1973 and once had about 85 stores, including Ayr-Way, Bacon's, Ben Snyder's, Hess's, and Valu Market. Over time, these anchors changed. Ayr-Way was acquired by Target Corporation. Ben Snyder's became Hess's, which in turn became a second store for Bacon's. Both Bacon's stores were later acquired by Dillard's before closing.

Also, John Conti opened one of Louisville's first 'gourmet' coffee shops at Bashford Manor Mall in the late 70's.

Only one tenant — a dry cleaner — remained by late 2003, after years of decline. In 1999 the mall had been purchased by Rubloff Developments of Detroit, who began to renovate it in 2001 but did not finish, and eventually sold it for demolition in 2003. [cite news|publisher=Courier-Journal|date=2003-09-18|last=Smith|first=Scheri|title=Wal-Mart eyes Bashford Manor|page=] An abandoned Dillard's store, not owned by the mall, remained standing. The Dillard's store was recently demolished and a Burlington Coat Factory store is currently being built.

The area has since been the site of a revitalization effort. The Target store relocated a block west of the mall into a new construction, which included other shops. In 2005, the entire mall site was razed and rebuilt with several new large anchor stores, including a Wal-Mart and Lowe's. In addition, all of Bashford Manor Lane was widened to three lanes with trees and other landscaping added.

The mall was briefly mentioned in national news stories when 12-year-old Ann Gotlib disappeared from the mall on June 1, 1983. She was never found and the case remained unsolved as of 2008. [cite news|publisher=Courier-Journal|title=Remembering Ann Gotlib, 22 years later|date=2005-05-24]

References

External links

* [http://www.ecentral.com/louisvillemaps/bashford_manor.gifStreet map of Bashford Manor]

Louisville places
place=Bashford Manor
north=Hayfield-Dundee
northeast=Gardiner Lane
south=West Buechel
east=Bon Air
west=Watterson Park