1796: Warren County, named for Joseph Warren, a hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill, was formed from an arm of Logan County. 1797: Robert Moore, founder of Bowling Green, offered two acres of land for buildings. Fountain Square Park now occupies that site. 1798: Bowling Green was made the county seat of Warren County. The first courthouse and the city's first jail, were also established at this time. 1827: The United States became the first riverboat to call at the Barren River port at Bowling Green. Salt was its main cargo. 1831: Samuel Atchison published the Green River Gazette, an early Bowling Green newspaper. 1834-1842: River improvements facilitated steamboat travel, and trade advanced the local economy. 1839: Travel improved with the construction of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike. Travel time to Louisville was 36 hours via stagecoach. 1859: The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was completed. 1861: The first Confederate troops arrived in Bowling Green under the command of General S.B. Buckner. 1861: December 10 - Bowling Green was declared the state capital of Confederate Kentucky. This designation lasted for less than three months. 1862: Federal troops gained control of Bowling Green. 1870: Dr. Thomas Wright was elected the first mayor of Bowling Green. 1882: The first public supported schools opened under the direction of Superintendent W.B. Wylie. 1889: The first mule-drawn street cars appeared on the streets of Bowling Green. 1895: Bowling Green's first electric street cars went into operation. 1900: J. Bland Farnsworth introduced Bowling Green's first automobile to the city's streets. 1908: The Crescent Theater, the first movie house in Bowling Green, opened under the management of August Wikenhofer. 1914: The first motorized fire trucks were placed in service. 1921: The Bowling Green sank at South Caroltown. 1922: The Chaperon burned on May 22 on the Tallahatchie River. 1931: The Evansville burned after a discarded cigarette started a fire in the steamboat's oil room. 1934: The Bowling Green Airport Corporation leased 100 acres on Scottsville Road for an airfield. 1940: Major industry came to Bowling Green when Union Underwear built a manufacturing plant in the city. The material contained within this timeline is based on the work of Jonathan Jeffrey, Special Collections Librarian, at the Kentucky Library in Bowling Green, Kentucky. |
