George Keats

Who was George Keats?

George Keats was a businessman and civic leader in Louisville, Kentucky, as it emerged from a frontier entrepôt into a mercantile center of the old northwest.

During the years from 1821 to 1841, Keats led a philosophical society, meant to overcome Louisville’s raw culture, operating a literary salon in his living room which evolved into the Lyceum and then into the board of Louisville College, the precursor to the University of Louisville.

In 1827, Keats was elected to the Ohio Bridge Commission, laying the foundation for the river’s first crossing. The state government appointed him to the board of the Bank of Kentucky in 1832. He joined the boards of ten other organizations, including the Kentucky Historical Society and the Harlan Museum, which he headed. In 1841, he was elected to the city council.