Original Highlands Neighborhood Association

Original Highlands Neighborhood Association

Check out Current Website

Please check out www.originalhighlands.com

2008 Halloween Party A Success!!

Gypsy's, Flapper's & Cyclops, Oh My!

You might have seen the warm glow of the fire pits, or the multiple neighbors in costumes laughing and having a great time on Saturday night on the eastern most end of Morton Avenue. A great laid back event suitable for all ages, where neighbors from the OHNA met to celebrate the season, sample the potluck table along with their burgers and dogs, and enjoy each other's company. This kind of event makes for a closer, kinder community.

Links

OHNA Website

About our association

Updated Website

Please go to www.originalhighlands.com for an updated website

OHNA Vision

Our Vision Statement:

In the year 2020, the Original Highlands maintains its strong sense of pride as one of Louisville’s first neighborhoods, and continues to build on its legacy of being a diverse and affordable mixed use neighborhood. The neighborhood has strengthened its sense of community through neighborhood programs and activities that promote a more livable traditional neighborhood that welcomes people of all ages and all walks of life. Alley and streetscape enhancements have contributed to the safe feeling of the neighborhood and have increased the neighborhood’s appeal.

Baxter Avenue and Barret Avenue are vibrant commercial corridors, with shops, galleries, restaurants and other unique uses, that make this neighborhood a city destination, enhancing the quality of life without intruding into the neighborhood’s predominantly single family residential fabric. Parking solutions have been implemented to lessen the negative impacts of visitors to the corridors.

New development and redevelopment respects the mass, scale and architecture of the neighborhood. Existing institutional structures have been adaptively and creatively reused in ways that create new neighborhood assets and are neighborhood-compatible. All new neighborhood uses strive to maintain and enhance the valuable historic personality of the Original Highlands.

OHNA History

Original Highlands Neighborhood Association - A Brief History

In 2005, the Original Highlands Neighborhood Association will turn 30 years old.
As with many neighborhood associations it has experienced ups and downs throughout its existence. There were times when it was strong, times of controversy, and times when it struggled for survival. Through it all, the OHNA is still here and continues to serve the neighborhood.

The OHNA was formed in 1975 as the Highlands Neighborhood Association representing a rather small part of the city on the highland east of downtown. This was a time when the first sparks of the now famous Bardstown Road corridor had just begun and the first Highlands Neighborhood was struggling.

In the late 1980s many newcomers bought historic houses in the area. They invested time, money, and sweat into their homes and the neighborhood. Parallel to this effort, equally dedicated individuals bought property along Baxter Ave. and slowly developed businesses. Together with a strong neighborhood association they brought the neighborhood back to life and made it one of the most vibrant in the city.

As the name Highlands became associated with a much larger area bisected by the bustling Bardstown Road corridor, the neighborhood developed its own identity and became known as the Original Highlands Neighborhood. This identity had become so developed by the early 1990s, that in 1992, the Highlands Neighborhood Association changed its name to the Original Highlands Neighborhood Association in order to better reflect the place that was their neighborhood. The Original Highlands Neighborhood Association continues its role in the neighborhood as a source of information, communication, representation, and facilitation.

The OHNA has achieved much in its 30 years. One of its crowning achievements was the creation of the Highland Island Landmark which became its symbol and icon, a testament to all the neighbors who made this place what it is today. Dedicated neighbors created and sustained the OHNA over the years and it will take more dedicated neighbors to continue its service to all of the people in this neighborhood.

Important Websites

Official OHNA Website