St. Matthews, Kentucky

St. Matthews is the 20th largest city in Kentucky, United States and is a prominent suburb of Louisville. It is located 8 miles east of downtown Louisville in Jefferson County. It is one of the state's major shopping areas, being home to second and fifth largest malls in Kentucky (Mall St. Matthews and Oxmoor Center), respectively, along with many smaller shopping centers along Shelbyville Road.

In 2003 St. Matthews became part of the new "Louisville Metro" government. It remains an independent city with its own mayor and emergency services. It is not counted in Louisville's population, although its citizens can vote for Louisville Mayor and Metro Council members.

History
Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived along the waterways of Kentucky for thousands of years before European contact. The Mississippian culture was a complex, sophisticated prehistoric culture whose people built massive earthwork mounds in the Ohio River valley, areas they settled between 1000 CE and 1400 CE. They preceded the historic tribes of the Ohio River area.

The area eventually known as St. Matthews was first settled by European Americans in 1779 by Colonial James John Floyd. Floyd, who had conducted an important survey of Jefferson County in 1774, bought 2000 acre of land from soldiers who had been awarded the parcels for their service in the French and Indian War. He arrived overland on November 8, 1779, bringing several family members and a black slave. They built cabins and a stockade, which came to be known as Floyd's Station, as early forts were called.

During the early 19th century, "the area was developed into several plantation tracts. The area was known as 'the garden of the state' for the produce that it grew and for which it served as a distribution point." As with most areas of the Inner Bluegrass Region, labor on the plantations was mostly enslaved African Americans. Major crops were tobacco and hemp, and the breeding of quality livestock, including horses, was important to the economy. With changes in agriculture, in the years before the Civil War, Kentucky planters were selling excess slaves at markets in Louisville for shipment to the Deep South, where new plantations for sugar and cotton had created huge demand for slave labor.

St. Matthews developed at the same time as nearby Louisville. It was centered around the intersection of present-day Breckenridge Lane, Shelbyville Road, and Westport Road. By 1840, the community was known as Gilman's Point, after local tavern owner Daniel Gilman. The name St. Matthews emerged in 1850, after the area's first church, St. Matthews Episcopal Church. It became official in 1851 when a newly opened post office adopted the name. Numerous other Protestant churches were founded. The oldest of three Catholic churches in the city is Holy Trinity, built in 1882. Trinity High School was established nearby in association with the church.

The community was connected to major southern cities by the Louisville, Lexington & Cincinnati Railroad, built in the mid-19th century, and a later railroad connecting Louisville to Anchorage and Middletown. The economy of St. Matthews was heavily agricultural well into the 20th century. From 1910 to 1946, it was home to the St. Matthews Produce Exchange, which was once the second-largest potato shipper in the country.

During the first half of the 20th century, the farms were gradually subdivided. With residential development, St. Matthews took on a suburban character. The original landowners names, such as Brown, Rudy, Nanz, Monohan and Oeschner, have been given to many of the local streets. The town's first bank was founded in 1905. A modern shopping district began developing in the 1920s that would include the landmark Vogue Theater, opened in 1938.

Growth of the area was accelerated by the Ohio River flood of 1937, which caused many families to leave low-lying ground in Louisville and move to the higher ground of St. Matthews. It incorporated as a city in 1950, partially to address infrastructure problems and build a sewer system. The Mall St. Matthews, Louisville's first indoor shopping mall, opened around this time.

In 2001 the cities of Broad Fields, Cherrywood Village, Fairmeade, Plymouth Village and Springlee were annexed by the City of Saint Matthews.

The boundaries of St. Matthews are roughly Cannons Lane to the west, I-264 to the south and east, and several subdivisions off of Brownsboro Road to the north. These include Bellewood, Brownsboro Village, Maryhill Estates and Windy Hills. The cities of Richlawn and Norbourne Estates are enclaves within St. Matthews.

Geography
St. Matthews is located at °N, °W (38.249931, -85.642613).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.0 square miles (10.4 km²), all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,852 people, 7,978 households, and 3,661 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,938.3 people per square mile (1,518.7/km²). There were 8,537 housing units at an average density of 2,121.0 per square mile (817.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.32% White, 4.95% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.62% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.69% of the population.

There were 7,978 households out of which 19.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.1% were non-families. 45.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 35.6% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,219, and the median income for a family was $56,473. Males had a median income of $37,306 versus $31,163 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,601. About 4.9% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.