The area we call Beechmont has been organized since the early 1930s. The first group was the Beechmont Civic Club, representing a much larger than the current BNA coverage area. The area was booming, and many people were willing to work to keep it an excellent place to live.

One of the achievements of the Beechmont Civic Club was financing the Iroquois Branch Library by selling certificates of ownership for one square inch of land for 50 cents apiece. The library was built in 1938, in the depth of the Depression. In more recent times, one outstanding accomplishment was securing the former Beechmont Elementary School for a Community Center.

Over the years, club members were involved in many problems facing the neighborhood. They helped stop the proposed 12-lane widening of the Watterson Expressway and made their voices known on behalf of southwestern Jefferson County, demanding that the partially-completed I-265 be finished so that this part of the county would have the same access as the far eastern corridor.

The Beechmont Civic Club did a lot of good, but times were changing and a civic club was not chartered in a way that was recognized by the federal programs for neighborhood revitalization. In addition, they took in a larger geographic area, making it difficult to represent each and every neighborhood. In the meantime, neighborhoods in the area were organizing to solve their own problems.

When the bridle path was closed to horses, it was covered with tanbark and made a very poor surface for cars. A group organized under the name Southern Parkway Preservation Association, and they worked with the Beechmont Civic Club on common goals of preserving the Parkway and eliminating blight throughout the neighborhood. At the same time, a high speed express bus line on the bridle path was proposed. Public hearings were held, and the good people of the south end were so enraged that they destroyed the proposal.

During that time, the group decided to reorganize under the name of the Beechmont Neighborhood Association. They set about drawing boundaries, including like housing and like problems within those boundaries. BNA has worked for years to restore the grandeur of the linear Parkway, as well as to address the varied needs of all the areas of our neighborhood.

More recently we have had a great impact on zoning, establishing Block Watch Groups, our Farmers Market, fighting chemical pollution issues, and more.