Seneca Gardens, Kentucky
| Seneca Gardens, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Seneca Gardens, Kentucky
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| Coordinates: 38°13′35″N 85°40′41″W / 38.22639°N 85.67806°WCoordinates: 38°13′35″N 85°40′41″W / 38.22639°N 85.67806°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Jefferson |
| Incorporated | 1941 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2) |
| • Land | 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 525 ft (160 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 699 |
| • Density | 4,286.1/sq mi (1,654.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| FIPS code | 21-69384 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0503169 |
| Website | www |
Seneca Gardens is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States, and a part of the Louisville Metro government. With the single exception of the Keneseth Israel Synagogue, all buildings within city limits are residential. The population was 699 during the year 2000 U.S. Census.
The site of the present city was originally part of Farmington, the 1810 estate of the Hon. John Speed and his second wife Lucy Gilmer Fry. Abraham Lincoln was a friend of the judge's son Joshua and spent three weeks at Farmington in 1841 while courting Mary Todd of Lexington. Lincoln would later name Joshua his attorney general during his second administration.
The Speeds sold off sections of their estate. Most of the present area of Seneca Gardens was purchased from the family in 1825 and 1846 by the German gardener Jacob Wetstein. He established the Methodist Westein Community Church on the corner of his property facing Taylorsville Road and local legend credited him with participating in the Underground Railroad. Wetstein's granddaughter's husband Edward F. Weigel, president of the Wetstein Land Company, mortgaged the estate to participate in the development of Broadmeade.
The remainder of the community was purchased from the Speeds by another German immigrant, Paul Discher, who was listed in the 1871 Louisville Directory as a "huckster". His descendants established the Discher Land Company and participated with Weigel in the development of Broadmeade and the present community of Seneca Gardens in 1922. Owing to Weigel's mortgages, however, the ruined him and his share of the land fell to his creditors.
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