The Seelbach Hilton Louisville resides just moments away from the West Main Street Historic District, which is one of the most celebrated neighborhoods in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. While the area is now known for its fantastic array of cultural attractions, it first started out as the site for a rudimentary wilderness citadel back during the late 18th century. In 1778, a group of settlers led by Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark arrived in the vicinity, who had been dispatched to attack a British outpost several miles away. Establishing a settlement on nearby Corn Island, the pioneers remained in the area for months thereafter while Clark pushed forward toward his objective. The settlers eventually created a wooden stockade called “Fort Nelson” some four years later, with Richard Chenworth presiding over the small community that emerged around it. Then, in 1784, the Virginia General Assembly (Kentucky was then still a part of Virginia) formally approved an official town charter recognizing the village as the community of “Louisville.” The locals had selected the name in honor of King Louis XVI, who had just helped the newly created United States defeat Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. Louisville quickly became a point of embarkation for additional generations of frontiersmen eager to head west, with the most notable being Meriweather Lewis and William Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. But Louisville’s proximity along the banks of the Ohio River also made it a significant trade center. Hundreds of merchants opened their owns storefronts and warehouses around old Fort Nelson, which sold products like whiskey and tobacco. Soon enough, Louisville was one of the most visited ports along the entire Ohio River, attracting all kinds of businesspeople from both the North and South. (Railroads also enhanced Louisville’s economic standing, starting with the arrival of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in the mid-1850s.)

Louisville’s prominence as a commercial hub made it extremely important to the Union war effort during the American Civil War. Even though Kentucky as a whole was a slave state, it officially remained loyal to the nation due to its economic ties with the northern states of the Old Northwest. Fortunately, the city escaped suffering any damage amid the conflict, although several nearby communities—including Perryville and Corydon—experienced heavy fighting at one point or another. (The Battle of Perryville in 1862 was one of the war’s most strategically significant fights, as it prevented a large Confederate army from occupying the commonwealth and threatening the Midwest.) Louisville once again proceeded to grow rapidly as a regional economic powerhouse as soon as the hostilities ended, with a spate of new commercial edifices debuting downtown. Main Street in particular became a major site for the construction work that characterized Louisville’s growth at the century’s end. The designs of the buildings were far more intricate, showcasing the beauty of Romanesque and Mediterranean-inspired architecture. Most of the structures even possessed their own unique detailing, including a rare array of cast iron facades. The area remained the heart of Louisville’s vibrant economy throughout much of the 20th century, until newer industries overtook the local economy in importance. Today, most of the historic warehouses and storefronts have been thoroughly renovated, reopening as boutique shops, restaurants, and art galleries. In fact, the West Main Street Historic District is also known locally as “Museum Row,” due to the high number of museums that reside in the neighborhood. Among those cultural institutions active now are the Muhammad Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Frazier History Museum, and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. Additional attractions are nearby, too, with the most notable being the legendary Churchill Downs racetrack.

The Seelbach Hilton Louisville still displays the same turn-of-the-century, Beaux-Arts architectural style that architects W.J. Dodd and F.M. Andrews originally created for it decades ago. Just as grand as the finest European hotels of the era, the building’s interiors featured a lobby furnished with marble from Italy and Switzerland. Furthermore, the space contained numerous mahogany and bronze fixtures that conveyed a Renaissance-inspired eclectic. The architects also mounted a vaulted dome of 800 glass panes atop the space, which many contemporaries considered to be an engineering marvel. Arthur Thomas—the most famous painter of Native American culture at the time—even decorated the lobby with huge mural paintings of pioneer scenes from Kentucky’s history. Dodd and Andrews specifically relied upon Beaux-Arts-inspired architecture as the main influence behind their work. Widely popular around the dawn of the 20th century, this beautiful architectural form originally began at an art school in Paris known as the École des Beaux-Arts during the 1830s. There was much resistance to the Neoclassism of the day among French artists, who yearned for the intellectual freedom to pursue less rigid design aesthetics.

Four instructors in particular were responsible for establishing the movement: Joseph-Louis Duc, Félix Duban, Henri Labrouste, and Léon Vaudoyer. The training that these instructors created involved fusing architectural elements from several earlier styles, including Imperial Roman, Italian Renaissance, and Baroque. As such, a typical building created with Beaux-Arts-inspired designs would feature a rusticated first story, followed by several more simplistic ones. A flat roof would then top the structure. Symmetry became the defining character, with every building’s layout featuring such elements like balustrades, pilasters, and cartouches. Sculptures and other carvings were commonplace throughout the design, too. Beaux-Arts only found a receptive audience in just a few countries though, as most Western architects gravitated toward British design principles. That being said, Beaux-Arts was received incredibly well throughout the United States, emerging as one of its most enduring architectural forms. Indeed, many Beaux-Arts-designed structures still survive in America today, with some even bearing a listing in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

This architectural distinctiveness has also manifested within many particular spaces on-site, with the most notable area being The Oakroom. The Oakroom’s transformation from a gentlemen’s billiard hall to a refined dining space is a fascinating tale of evolution, both architectural and cultural. Originally conceived in 1907 as an exclusive retreat for men, the room’s design embodied the era’s social norms, with its hand-carved American Oak paneling, private bar, and card room providing a secluded space for relaxation and leisure. The exclusion of women from such spaces reflects a time when societal roles were rigidly defined, and the very presence of billiard tables in this setting symbolized a form of masculinity associated with wealth, status, and leisure.

Even though the room has since been restored to its present elegance, elements of its past remain visible. The oak-paneled walls and columns still retain their stately presence, while the subtle traces of the former billiard room—such as remnants of the cue racks on the south wall—invite guests to imagine a bygone era of gentlemanly games and private indulgence. The Oakroom’s hidden features, like the secret exit once used by notorious figures such as Al Capone, add an air of mystery and intrigue to the space. The “Al Capone room,” as it is now known, harkens back to the Prohibition days when organized crime and covert activities were part of the cultural fabric. The boarded-up panel on the southwest wall, which once allowed swift escapes for gangsters, adds an almost cinematic quality to the room’s history, reminding guests that the Oakroom was not just a place of leisure, but also one of shadowy dealings and escape.

Elvis Presley, singer, musician and actor, affectionately known as the “King of Rock.” 

Julia Child, cooking teacher and television personality remembered for her show, The French Chef.

Lucky Luciano, founder of the Genovese crime family, as well as The Commission.

Al Capone, gangster infamously remembered as the head of the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition.

Dutch Schultz, gangster and bootlegger remembered as the "Beer Baron of the Bronx."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author remembered today for writing The Great Gatsby.

William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (1909 – 1913) and 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921 – 1930)

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States (1913 – 1921)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (1933 – 1945)

Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (1945 – 1953) 

John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (1961 – 1963)

Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (1963 – 1969)

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States (1977 – 1981)

Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993 – 2001)

George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States (2001 – 2009)

The Hustler (1961)

The Insider (1999)

The Great Gatsby (2013)