Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States.[3] Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2020 census, its population of 72,294[4] made it the third-most-populous city in the state after Louisville and Lexington; its metropolitan area, which is the fourth largest in the state after Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky, had an estimated population of 179,240; and the combined statistical area it shares with Glasgow has an estimated population of 233,560.[5][6][7]
In the 21st century, it is the location of numerous manufacturers, including General Motors, Spalding, and Fruit of the Loom. The Bowling Green Assembly Plant has been the source of all Chevrolet Corvettes built since 1981. Bowling Green is also home to Western Kentucky University and the National Corvette Museum.
History[edit]
Settlement and incorporation[edit]
The first Europeans known to have reached the area carved their names on beech trees near the river around 1775. By 1778, settlers established McFadden's Station on the north bank of the Barren River.[8]
Present-day Bowling Green developed from homesteads erected by Robert[8] and George Moore and General Elijah Covington, the namesake of the town near Cincinnati.
Some controversy exists over the source of the town's name. The city refers to the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town "Bolin Green" after the Bowling Green in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets during the American Revolution.[8] According to the Encyclopedia of Kentucky, the name was derived from Bowling Green, Virginia, from where early migrants had come, or the personal "ball alley game" of founder Robert Moore.[9]
19th century[edit]
By 1810, Bowling Green had 154 residents. Growth in steamboat commerce and the proximity of the Barren River increased Bowling Green's prominence. In 1821, the Kentucky Legislature built a toll road between the town and Cloverport on the Ohio River.[10] Canal locks and dams on the Barren River made it much more navigable. In 1832, the first portage railway connected the river to the location of the current county courthouse. Mules pulled freight and passengers to and from the city on the tracks.
Despite rapid urbanization of the Bowling Green area in the 1830s, agriculture remained an important part of local life. A visitor to Bowling Green noted the boasting of a tavern proprietor named Benjamin Vance:
Education[edit]
Primary and secondary education[edit]
Public education is provided by the Bowling Green Independent School District in inner sections of Bowling Green and by Warren County Public Schools in outerlying sections.[44] Several private schools also serve Bowling Green students.
U.S. Route 68 / Kentucky State Route 80 west to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, east to Lexington, Kentucky / Somerset, Kentucky
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Kawanishi
Bowling Green has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:
