Louisville experienced a golden age of gambling between 1860 and 1885, thanks to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers by steamboat and foot. They played faro, keno, roulette and other games of chance, such as chuck-a-luck. Entire city blocks were devoted to betting. Horse racing and lotteries emerged. Gaming houses became grand palaces with names such as the Crockford, the Crawford and the Turf Exchange, frequented by famous gamblers like Richard Watts, Colonel “Black” Chinn and actor Nat Goodwin. Author Bryan Bush offers up these stories and more about the “City of Gamblers.”
Bryan Bush is a Louisville native with a passion for history, especially the Civil War. He has consulted for movie companies and other authors, coordinated with other museums on displays of various museum articles and artifacts and written for magazines, such as the Kentucky Explorer and Back Home in Kentucky. Mr. Bush has published more than fourteen books on the Civil War and Louisville history, including Louisville’s Southern Exposition and The Men Who Built the City of Progress: Louisville During the Gilded Age. Bryan Bush has been a Civil War reenactor for fifteen years, portraying an artillerist. In December 2019, Bryan Bush became the park manager for the Perryville State Historic Site.