New Cut Corridor Trolley Hop

Within the Region - Kenwood and Iroquois

Iroquois Park and Kenwood Hill*
"Burnt Knob," as it was called when the mayor arranged its purchase in 1888, was four miles outside the city limits.
But Jacob saw the property as an escape for city dwellers and persuaded the General Council (the city’s governing body then) to purchase the 313 acres.   He wrote a personal check for one-third of the amount to close the deal quickly.
It was officially named Iroquois Park Aug. 13, 1891.
In its early days, the park was not accessible because there were roads from the center of town.
Kenwood Hill remained sparsely populated until 1942, when construction began on its first subdivision.  By 1948, the hill had been carved up by various developers, and in the 1960s, most of the subdivisions were fully developed.  "Devil's Backbone or Bust" was the slogan of builder William Eckles and his father, T. G., who built houses on the south side of Kenwood Hill known as Devil's Backbone, according to a 1961 article in The Courier-Journal.
In its early days, the park was NOT accessible because there were no  roads from the center of town.  That dilemma was solved with the June 14, 1893, opening of Southern Parkway.
Two other parks no longer in existence are richly entwined in Kenwood Hill's history: Summers Park at the present intersection of Iroquois Park and Southern Parkway while Senning's Park was at the intersection of Kenwood Drive and New Cut Road.

*A PLACE IN TIME (COURIER JOURNAL. 1989)