Following the settlement of Louisville at the Falls of the Ohio in 1778, farms spread out into the nearby countryside. Early landowners included Col. William Pope, Maj. Abner Field, and the Shivelys, Christian William and Jacob. Christian opened a mill and tavern on the section of his 1,000 acres (400 ha) tract near Mill Creek and the road—later incorporated as the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike—connecting Louisville to the Salt River.[2] This became the focus of a settlement known as the Shively precinct. He donated the land for a church in 1816 that is now known as Parkview Methodist.

A stagecoach stop was opened in 1831. The Elizabethtown and Paducah Railroad arrived in the 1870s.[2]

Shortly before the Civil War, the area became popular among German immigrants, mostly from Bavaria, and they erected St. Helen's Catholic Church in 1897. The community was commonly known as St. Helen's for the next few years, but the post office (est. 1902) could not adopt it owing to another community with that name in Lee Co.[2]

A streetcar line was extended to the area in 1904.

Eight whiskey distilleries opened nearby after the end of Prohibition. When Louisville began an attempt to annex and tax them during the Great Depression, they talked the residents of Shively into incorporating separately (finalized May 23, 1938) and annexing their district instead...(read more)