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Recreation in Warren County and Bowling Green STEAMBOAT EXCURSIONS Rivers served as highways
for many nineteenth century Kentuckians. Steamboats brought manufactured
goods from big cities to the hinterland and carried area farm
produce to distant markets. Travelers also availed themselves
of the relative comforts and rapid pace of the paddle wheelers.
Warren Countians often boated to Louisville for shopping excursions
and family visits. A popular excursion, and one frequently booked
by school groups, was a river trip to Mammoth Cave. Bowling Green's Odeon Hall opened in 1864 as an auditorium for local productions. Banker and entrepreneur Pleasant J. Potter bought the building in 1887. Operating it as Potter Opera House, he booked local as well as traveling theatrical productions and concert artists en route to Louisville and Nashville. A fire destroyed the opera house on July 3, 1899; rebuilt, the facility continued to provide area residents with a place to enjoy local and traveling productions. The Potter family sold the building in 1906; the renamed Bowling Green Opera House closed in 1925. Currently, the building houses Bowling Green Bank and Trust. Beech Bend, a 400-acre amusement park located a few miles downriver from Bowling Green, was a favorite picnic area for mid-nineteenth century residents. During the last decade of the century its popularity soared following the addition of a dance pavilion. Upon purchasing the land in 1942, Charles Garvin added a roller rink and swimming pool. He opened the zoo in 1947 and during the 1950s added pony rides and a water boat, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and roller coaster. The first overnight campers stayed at Beech Bend in 1960. The first fairgrounds were created after the Civil War in the area currently bound by the U.S. 31W Bypass and Broadway, Lehman and Covington avenues. The grounds included a half-mile track, a grandstand that seated 3500 and an amphitheater that held 7500. On a typical fair day, 15,000 area residents crowded into the grounds to attend races, cattle shows, and exhibits of baked, pickled and canned goods, needlework and other offerings. By the 1930s the buildings showed signs of deterioration and during World War II the grounds were abandoned. In 1952 the fair was revived and relocated to the National Guard grounds on Morgantown Road. Today the Southern Kentucky Fair is held in Lampkin Park. As they sang their way to the top of the music charts, "Hilltoppers" Billy Vaughn, Jimmy Sacca, Seymore Spiegelman, and Don McGuire made Bowling Green famous. For their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1952, they sang "Trying" and wore college sweaters embellished with a big "W." In 1924 a two-story restaurant was built on the site of an old mill that had stood above Lost River Cave throughout most of the nineteenth century. Following a 1926 fire, a supper club opened on the site. An in-cave nightclub, opened in 1934, boasted a beer garden, cafe, bandstand, private rooms, and a roof over the dance floor to prevent condensation from dripping on the dancers. The club closed in 1949, in part because big bands and ballroom dancing had begun to wane in favor of more family-oriented activities. Many guests reached
Massey Springs Resort by steamboat. One of several popular resorts
in Warren County, Massey Springs was famous for excellent fishing,
good beach facilities and ice-cold spring waters that "aided"
the healing of kidney disorders, stomach troubles, and rheumatism. |
