This land holds a layered history.

This property dates to at least 1823, with the current house likely constructed between 1847 and 1852 by the forced labor of enslaved Black people.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the land was owned by Henry J. Craycroft, who operated a small farm and supplied produce to the city. Records indicate that Craycroft enslaved at least four people in 1850 and fifteen by 1860. Enslaved people on this site worked the land, tended crops, and contributed to its productivity through labor that was not freely given.

Craycroft also participated in the buying and selling of enslaved people in Louisville, contributing to a system that treated human lives as property and separated families. While most of the names of the people enslaved by Craycroft are unknown, he placed an ad in the newspaper in 1853, seeking to capture an enslaved person named Sam, who had escaped.

In 1871, Alfred Froman, a Black civic leader, stood on this site during an Emancipation Day celebration and named aloud the site’s connection to enslavement.

By telling the full history of this location and acknowledging the lives and labor of those who were enslaved here, we seek to honor their humanity and ensure their stories are not forgotten.