Louisville Board of Trade

Louisville Board of Trade. Historic Site. , The Louisville Board of Trade, the forerunner to a modern chamber of commerce, was founded in 1862 for members' "mutual protection" and to promote "transportation of commodities." By 1890 the Board had over 40 members associated with the bourbon industry - distillers, wholesalers, coopers, and still makers., The Board was also instrumental in organizing the Southern Exposition, held annually from 1883 to 1887, showcasing Louisville's "Art, Industry, and Agriculture." This was the first public, commercial exposition to be lighted by Thomas Edison's new incandescent electric light bulb, using 4,600 bulbs., In 1879, the Board purchased the Lithgow Building at the corner of Third and Main Streets and later added an expansive Merchants Exchange Hall to the second floor. The Lithgow Building was demolished in 1975 to allow for the widening of Third Street., (image captions): , Southern Exposition medallion, c. 1886 , Lithgow Building, Wine and Spirit Bulletin Offices. , Bourbon District - 302 West. , The Wine and Spirit Bulletin was the liquor industry's Wall Street Journal, detailing the production amounts, exports, and other trade facts and figures. The industry used The Bulletin as a valuable source of information on the Bottled-in-Bond Act, the Prohibition movement (which ultimately lead to the publication's extinction), and for statistics on the American and European liquor industries., Published in Louisville from 1886 to 1918 under the editorship of George R. Washburne, it also had offices in New York, London, Paris, and Portugal. Washburne also published the consumer guide to wine and spirits, Beverages de Luxe, in 1914., (image captions): , The Wine and Spirit Bulletin, c. 1901 , Beverages de Luxe 1914