James Graham Brown spent $4 million on the Brown Hotel, the 16-story landmark that opened at Fourth and Broadway in 1923. Its presence dominates this block — inside are 294 rooms, more than 24,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and three restaurants. The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Walk back in time in your mind: this building was designed by Preston J. Bradshaw and opened in 1923, a feat completed only ten months after construction began. It cost $4 million and was funded and owned by James Graham Brown, a local entrepreneur who built it to compete with The Seelbach Hotel just a few blocks down the street. Almost immediately it became central to the growing downtown economy and to the social lives of Louisville.
Inside, a local culinary invention was born: in 1926 chef Fred K. Schmidt introduced the Hot Brown — an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce — a dish that quickly won fans. Notice the hotel's façade rising over Fourth and Broadway, still shaping the city below.