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Introduction As the twentieth century approached, Bowling Green became the region's industrial and manufacturing center. Warren County continued to prosper during the early part of the new century. The county experienced another surge of industrial growth following World War II. The local transportation system helped attract businesses to the area. |
Early settlers depended upon blacksmithing for nails and spikes, fireplace cranes, kitchen tools, farm implements and other necessities. Once merchants began stocking mass-produced hardware and implements in the mid-1850s, blacksmiths often provided a much smaller range of goods. They shoed horses and mules and made and repaired iron parts of wagons, agricultural implements and harnesses. |
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Reports of oil in Warren County date from the late 1700s. An early account stated that an oily scum was discovered on the surface of Oil Spring near Drakes Creek. The heyday of oil drilling occurred from the late 1910s to the early 1920s with the discovery of the Davenport and Moulder Pools. In the ensuing frenzy, the population of Bowling Green swelled briefly. Oil exploration has continued sporadically since with several "boomlets" in production. |
Quarried primarily from the 1870s through the 1920s, the county's oolitic or fish roe limestone is renowned for its superior qualities. Soft and easily workable, Warren County limestone develops an extraordinary hardness and turns white when exposed to the elements. Trademarked by the White Stone Quarry as "Bowlinggreen Stone," oolitic limestone won awards at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (learn more) |
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Bowling Green was once home to a thriving lumber industry that produced railroad ties, building materials, barrel staves, wine casks and ax handles. Numerous stands of hickory trees in Warren County supplied much of the raw material. Timber was also harvested from Allen, Barren and Monroe counties and floated down the Barren River to manufactories in Warren. In 1877 James Woolworth established an ax handle factory in Bowling Green. He merged with the Turner-Day Company in 1884, becoming the largest manufacturer of "Hickory Striking Tool Handles." Their slogan, "We handle the world," reflected a large national and international market. In 1951 the True Temper Corporation acquired the Turner, Day & Woolworth Handle Company. |
During the last 150 years Warren County has been home to several textile manufactories. The Bowling Green Woolen Mills operated for much of the latter half of the nineteenth century from a factory on the Barren River. Union Underwear, the maker of Fruit of the Loom, BVDs and Underoos, was founded in 1926 in Indianapolis by Jacob Goldfarb. As demand for his "union suit" increased, Goldfarb located manufacturing plants in Illinois and Kentucky. The company's Bowling Green plant opened on Church Street in 1941 as The Derby Underwear Company. Locally known as the "Derby," the plant doubled in size by 1950. They later moved corporate headquarters to Bowling Green and are presently known as Fruit of the Loom, Inc. Having sewn innumerable pairs of underwear and other garments over the years, employees rightly claim their role in keeping America comfortably clothed. |
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Holley Carburetor Company opened their Bowling Green plant in 1951 to manufacture ignition and carburetor small parts. Holley carburetors were standard on many American-made cars. In 1964 cars with Bowling Green carburetors finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the NASCAR Grand National 500-mile race at Daytona Beach. In 1968 Colt Industries Incorporated acquired Holley Carburetor Company. |
Bowling Green constructed gasworks and waterworks in the city by the late 1860s. Although homes and businesses were not wired until the 1890s, the town had already installed electric city lights and trolley cars. In the mid-1930s Congress made federal, low-interest loans available to construct rural power lines. The Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation received $309,000 from the Rural Electrification Administration. On March 3, 1939, the cooperative turned on power to 325 homes along a 130-mile network of lines in northern Warren County. Its initial plan also included the electrification of Edmonson, Logan, Simpson, Butler and Ohio counties. They also provide water, sewer and DirectTV to present-day customers. |
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Revised December 8, 2000 Created by Donna Parker with contribution from Sandy Staebell, Laura Harper Lee, Lynne Ferguson and Jon Kay. Send comments to KyMus@wku.edu URL: http://www.wku.edu/Library/onlinexh/rrr1/Pages/Mainpages/industry.html |
