 Two hundred years ago, transportation was crude, slow, and unreliable. Today residents are surrounded by a complex system of roadways providing easy, quick and dependable means of transporting people and goods. This summary of Warren County roadways will briefly explain their growth and development and examine the resulting forms of transportation heritage that occurred in the last two hundred years. Paths and Wagon Roads Before the settlement of Warren County in the late 1700s, pioneers traveled by small river craft or on foot, by horseback, or in wagons along narrow pathways. These crude routes provided the only means for traveling to new territories. The Cumberland Trace was a major route to south central Kentucky during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and early travelers followed this primitive path from the Wilderness Road in Lincoln County, through Warren County, and to Nashville, Tennessee. As westward migration increased, communities developed along the Cumberland Trace. In 1785, settlers built McFadden's Station on the Cumberland Trace near the Barren River (approximately where I-65 crosses the Barren River) as a "rest stop" for travelers and as a defense post against Indian attacks. Robert Moore probably visited McFadden's Station in the early 1790s and ultimately settled in the area that became a progressive community known as Bowling Green. In 1797 Moore donated two acres to Warren County for public buildings. The following year he gave adjoining land for a town. Turnpikes and Stagecoaches In 1796, the Kentucky Legislature created Warren County from Logan County and in 1811 officially proclaimed Bowling Green the county seat. As the town and county developed, the need for transportation to and from the new community emerged. The county court arranged for the surveying and "building" of local roads that enabled residents to travel from their homes to the courthouse in the center of the county. Planned to connect as many farms as possible without bisecting any more holdings than necessary, the roadways snaked through the county. Recognizing the need for passable routes through the state, the Kentucky legislature authorized the construction of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike in 1833 and established state-regulated tollgates and tollhouses every fifth mile to collect tolls from travelers. The turnpike began in Louisville and extended southward through Elizabethtown and Warren County to Nashville. Today, this federal highway is known as the Dixie Highway or U.S. 31W. Stagecoach routes and stops developed along the main roadways. By the late 1820s two lines traveled through Bowling Green, connecting the town with Louisville and Nashville as well as Hopkinsville. Stagecoaches picked up and delivered passengers and goods three times a week at Washington Hall (built about 1820) or the Morehead House (constructed in the 1840s) on Main and State streets. Traveling about eight miles per hour, the trip from Louisville to Nashville took three days and cost twelve dollars. In addition to urban hotels, stagecoaches stopped at specific rural inns, where fresh horses were available and where passengers could rest, sleep and obtain food. Coach stops often formed the nucleus for small communities. The original function of the Smith-Middleton House on Louisville Road was that of a stagecoach stop. By the mid- to late nineteenth century, the popularity of the steamboat and advent of railroads lessened the use and maintenance of principal roadways, and many stagecoach lines were abandoned. These roadways were not surfaced and inclemate weather, pot holes and other undesirable conditions often impeded the passage of heavy coaches and wagons. In the late 1800s, farmers as well as city folk lobbied for improved roadways. As a result, many roads were macadamized (covered with crushed stone), and the Kentucky legislature transferred the management and maintenance of principal routes, such as the L & N Turnpike, to individual counties. Automobiles, Highways, and Interstates The twentieth century has seen Bowling Green become a motorized town. The advent of mass-produced automobiles improved transportation and created a multitude of occupations and industries previously unknown in the area. It also changed the landscape as automobile-related commercial facilities developed along the roadways. Bowling Green's first automobile belonged to J. Bland Farnsworth, owner of Farnsworth Electric Company. His one-cylinder car moved ten to fifteen miles per hour and was extremely noisy. In 1903, the first factory-built automobile appeared in Bowling Green. By the 1920s, increased usage and demand for improvements forced local magistrates to begin paving town streets and county roads and commercial facilities--restaurants, motels, repair shops, gas stations, gift shops and tourist attractions--mushroomed on property adjacent to these byways. During the first half of the twentieth century, the main route through south central Kentucky was Dixie Highway (formerly known as L & N Turnpike and today known as 31W). This federal north-south connector stretched from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan to Fort Myers, Florida and brought millions of travelers through the county and the middle of town. Restaurants, filling stations and other facilities for travelers lined this highway. After World War II, many roads were paved. A bypass was constructed to take 31-W's through traffic away from Bowling Green's congested downtown area. In the 1960s and 1970s, Interstate 65 and the Green River Parkway opened. These highways provided more efficient travel and had a major impact on the local economy. Technology has made travel a pleasure, and today Americans travel for fun as well as necessity. Automobiles crowd interstate highways, and travelers pour into tourist accommodations and leisure-time attractions. Everything from riding to school, shopping at the mall, lunching at McDonalds, to visiting drive-in banks reflect the importance of travel in everyday lives. The history of Bowling Green and Warren County is closely linked to transportation and its changes through the years. Whether horse drawn, steam driven, gas powered or jet propelled, the means of moving goods and people has had a major economic impact on the area and explains why Bowling Green is a larger town with greater industrial, educational, and cultural enhancements than many neighboring communities. |
