Thanks to Diane Deaton-Street, Broken Sidewalk contributing photographer, for putting together this collage of Bardstown Road in 1935 over Bardstown Road in 2009 (thanks as well to the UL archives for allowing us to show the old photo here).
As you can see, the architecture has largely remained the same while the businesses have changed. You can see in the old photo not only a Piggly Wiggly grocery store (currently Leatherhead), but two drug stores including a Walgreens where Bombay grocery is today. The ubiquitous above ground electric wires are still there and the vintage photo must have been taken around Independence Day from the flags on display.
The big change, of course, is transit. Take a look at the trolley stopping to admit several well dressed riders near Bonnycastle Avenue and the Leatherhead store. There’s a southbound trolley behind the delivery truck in the right lane as well. Reminds me of the recent proposal to run a new trolley line down Bardstown Road.
The feel of the historic photo, to me, seems to be much more slow paced and residential than the Bardstown Road of today. With the lush trees and the houses that still served as single family homes. Bardstown takes on the feeling of a mixed-use Cherokee Road as the commercial district fades with the trolley stop until it will pick up again at the Douglass Loop.


















