David Domine - Ghosts of Old Louisville: True Stories of Hauntings in Americas Largest Victorian Neighborhood

True Stories of Hauntings in Americas
Largest Victorian Neighborhood

David Domin

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Copyright 2017 by David Domin

Published by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com

Cover design and book layout by James Asher.

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2005922415

ISBN 978-0-8131-7452-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8131-7453-2 (pdf)
ISBN 978-0-8131-7454-9 (epub)

This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

DEDICATION

For my little buddy, Schnigglefritz,
a little silver schnauzer
with a heart of gold
who left this earth
much too soon on January 23rd, 2004.

As I wrote this book,
he was ever by my side,
providing me with countless nights of solace,
the most faithful of friends till the end,
loyal and true,
keeping the ghosts at bay.

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bunp in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!

-Scottish Prayer

I am not a parapsychologist. I do not even know if I believe in ghosts, spirits, telekinetic energy or whatever else may be the purported cause of perceived supernatural activity. I think people in their melodramatic haste are all too often ready to attribute strange phenomena to would-be paranormal circumstances rather than draw the most logical conclusions. One thing I do know, however, is that individuals do experience unexplained occurrences. Whether or not they can in fact be blamed on mental energy, restless souls, residual views of the past, or just plain imagination is something I dont know, either. Ghost stories, on the other hand, require no explanation and are just that stories. The tales in this book form a collection of stories centered on events and places in the Old Louisville neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, a Victorian gem forgotten by time that has seen its share of splendor, sorrow and tragedy. Some of the stories are first-hand accounts of unearthly happenings and others are legends that have taken root in the area. Some of these tales have been documented before, while others make their first appearance in this book.

I am not a historian, either, but rather a curious individual and writer with a penchant for haunted places... and lots of imagination. I make no claims as to the veracity of the information herein. I have done hundreds of hours of research and interviewed scores of people, so these accounts do indeed have a basis in fact; nonetheless, I have exercised a certain amount of artistic license when putting pen to paper. As for the names of the people I spoke with, some have been changed to provide anonymity. When I quote an individual and mention the name, this indicates a first-hand source I interviewed. When I quote other individuals but do not give a name it is because the information is second-hand.

The Old Louisville neighborhood is one of my favorite places on earth, and it is only fitting that it have its share of spooks and phantoms. I am happy to be the first person to compile a written record of the many legends and stories of the supernatural that hail exclusively from the largest Victorian neighborhood in the country. If I have piqued your curiosity and enticed outsiders to come and explore its haunted lanes and alleys, and to discover the charms of its former grandeur, I will have succeeded with this book.

David Domin
Old Louisville, October 31, 2004

David Domin explores paranormal experiences in Ghosts of Old Louisville. This pioneering book serves as the first collection of ghost stories I know which unfolds within a familiar neighborhood in the city of my birth. Many of Old Louisvilles mansions serve as seminal locations where first events and first experiences unfold in my youth.

Decades later after a performance of my Murder in Cherokee Park, Judy Cato introduces me to Mr. Domin. Domin and I shake hands on the steps outside of the Clifton Center Theatre in July, 2003. Soon, we three friends form a writers group. We conduct our monthly meetings in one anothers residences.

Like David Domin himself, his Old Louisville mansion strikes me as exotic, handsome, mysterious, strong, and tall. Intricately jeweled, lacquered, and studded surfaces transport his friends and visitors into extraordinary realms remindful of Byzantine or Russian terems for cloistered royalty.

Domins beautifully appointed dining room table overflows with his own gourmet cuisine presented and served with artistic originality; moreover, his writing clearly announces remarkable expertise. He elevates craft into art.

During the winter of 2004, Domin offers Ghosts of Old Louisville for Cato and me to evaluate. The book fascinates because his ghost stories unfold within one of my favorite neighborhoods, Old Louisville.

Mr. Domins text merges historical facts and architectural details with an imaginative narrative based upon personal conversations and interviews. Overall, the work emerges as a mood piece, a work of atmosphere.

Mood and atmosphere prove the most difficult aspects of writing for any writer to accomplish well. Domins mood and atmosphere convince.

Writers can conceptualize mood and atmosphere from memories. During the 1950s I remember feeling dismay when Urban Renewal demolished several square blocks of downtown Louisvilles late 18th and early 19th century brick row houses. Today, I observe their vast stretches of vacant lots, new roads and parking spaces. Only memory can reconstruct those three-story homes classical fanlights, stone staircases gracefully curving to the sidewalks, hand-blown glass window panes, handsome chimneys, interior moldings skillfully hand-carved by slaves, and thick fire walls.

Obviously, descriptive writing communicates vivid memories of these former structures. Likewise, Domins prose communicates former realms and experiences of interesting people living and deceased.

Domins spine-tingling accounts of the paranormal recreate a former age. Ghosts of Old Louisvilles