Editing Bowling Green, Kentucky (section)

==History==
===Settlement and incorporation===
The first Europeans known to have reached the area carved their names on beech trees near the river {{Circa|1775}}. By 1778, settlers established McFadden's Station on the north bank of the [[Barren River]].<ref name=bgky>City of Bowling Green. "[https://www.bgky.org/history/early-history Early History of Bowling Green]". Accessed July 22, 2013.</ref>

Present-day Bowling Green developed from homesteads erected by Robert<ref name=bgky/> and George Moore and General Elijah Covington, not the namesake of [[Covington, Kentucky|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 (New York City)|Bowling Green]] in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of [[list of kings of the United Kingdom|King]] [[George III]] and used the lead to make bullets during the [[American Revolution]].<ref name=bgky/> According to the ''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'', the name was derived from [[Bowling Green, Virginia]], whence early migrants had come, or the personal "ball alley game" of founder Robert Moore.<ref>{{cite book |title=''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'' |chapter=Dictionary of Places: Bowling Green |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=New York City |year=1987 |isbn=0-403-09981-1}}</ref>

===19th century===
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, Kentucky|Cloverport]] on the [[Ohio River]].<ref>{{cite book | first=John E. | last=Kleber | title=The Kentucky Encyclopedia | publisher=The University Press of Kentucky | issue=v. 1 | year=1992 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eFSK4o--M0C&dq=joe+huston+cloverport&pg=PA122 | isbn=0-8131-1772-0 |access-date=July 5, 2023 | page=122}}</ref> [[Canal lock]]s 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:
{{cquote|[Vance] says that he has seen a turnip this fall that measures thirty-two inches around, and has a beet that weighs sixteen pounds and a half;... that corn in this country grows so fast that if you look at it the next, it has grown a foot higher; that the "little hickory twigs" growing in the barrens have roots as large as his legs...}}

In 1859, the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] (currently [[CSX Transportation]]) laid railroad through Bowling Green that connected the city with northern and southern markets.

Bowling Green declared itself neutral in an attempt to escape the Civil War. Because of its prime location and resources, however, both the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] sought control of the city. The majority of its residents rejected both the Confederacy and the [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] administration. On September 18, 1861, around 1,300 Confederate soldiers arrived from Tennessee to occupy the city, placed under command of Kentucky native [[Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr.|General Simon Bolivar Buckner]]. The city's pro-Union feelings surprised the Confederate occupiers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baird|first1=Nancy Disher|last2=Carraco|first2=Carol Crowe|title=Bowling Green and Warren County: A Bicentennial History|date=1999|publisher=Liberty Printing|location=Bowling Green, KY|isbn=978-0932017048|page=13}}</ref> The Confederates fortified surrounding hills to secure possible military approaches to the valuable river and railroad assets. In November 1861, the provisional [[Confederate government of Kentucky]] chose Bowling Green as its capital.<ref name="kye-confgov">{{cite book |editor=Kleber, John E. |others=Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter |title=''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'' |year=1992 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0-8131-1772-0 |chapter=Confederate State Government}}</ref>

On February 14, 1862, after receiving reports that [[Battle of Fort Henry|Fort Henry]] on the [[Tennessee River]] and [[Fort Donelson]] on the [[Cumberland River]] had both been captured by Union forces under [[Ulysses S. Grant]], the Confederates began to withdraw from Bowling Green. They destroyed bridges across the Barren River, the railroad depot, and other important buildings that could be used by the enemy. The city was subject to disruptions and raids throughout the remainder of the war. During the summer of 1864, Union General [[Stephen G. Burbridge]] arrested 22 civilians in and around Bowling Green on a charge of [[treason]]. This incident and other harsh treatment by federal authorities led to bitterness toward the Union among Bowling Green residents and increased sympathies with the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]].

After the Civil War, Bowling Green's business district grew considerably. Previously, agriculture had dominated the city's economy. During the 1870s, many of the historic business structures seen today were erected. One of the most important businesses in Bowling Green of this era was Carie Burnam Taylor's dress-making company. By 1906, Taylor employed more than 200 women.

In 1868, the city constructed its first [[waterworks]] system. The fourth county courthouse was completed in 1868. The first three were completed in 1798, 1805, and 1813. In 1889, the first [[mule]]-drawn streetcars appeared in the city. The first electric streetcars began to replace them by 1895.

The [[Sisters of Charity of Nazareth]] founded St. Columbia's Academy in 1862, succeeded by St. Joseph's School in 1911.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stjosephschoolbg.org/aboutus.htm |title=Saint Joseph School – Contact/Directions |publisher=Stjosephschoolbg.org |access-date=May 31, 2013 |archive-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626220509/http://stjosephschoolbg.org/aboutus.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1884, the Southern [[Normal school|Normal School]], which had been founded in 1875, moved to Bowling Green from the town of [[Glasgow, Kentucky]]. Pleasant J. Potter founded a women's college in Bowling Green in 1889. It closed in 1909 and its property was sold to the Western Kentucky State Normal School (see below, now known as [[Western Kentucky University]]). Other important schools in this era were Methodist Warren College, [[Ogden College]] (which also became a part of Western Kentucky University), and Green River Female College, a boarding school.

===20th century===
In 1906, Henry Hardin Cherry, the president and owner of Southern Normal School, donated the school to the state as the basis of the Western State Normal School. The school trained teachers for the expanding educational needs of the state. This institution is now known as [[Western Kentucky University]] and is the second-largest public university in the state, having recently surpassed the [[University of Louisville]].

In 1906, Doctors [[Lillian H. South]], J. N. McCormack, and A.T. McCormack opened St. Joseph Hospital to provide medical and nursing care to the residents and students in the area.<ref name="Warren County Medical Society">{{cite web|url=http://www.warrencountymedicalsociety.org/Lillian%20South.htm |title=Dr Lillian Herald South |work=Warren County Medical Society official website |publisher=Warren County Medical Society |access-date=April 1, 2010 |location=Bowling Green, Kentucky |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728170535/http://www.warrencountymedicalsociety.org/Lillian%20South.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Kentucky Medical Journal">''Kentucky State Medical Association''. (1913). Kentucky Medical Journal. Louisville, Ky: The Kentucky State Medical Association. page 160. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o5AMAAAAYAAJ&q=Lillian&pg=RA1-PA151 Accessed on 31 March 2010].</ref>

In 1925, the third and last [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station (Bowling Green, Kentucky)|Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station]] was opened. About 27 trains arrived daily at the depot. Intercity bus lines were also a popular form of travel. By the 1960s, railroad travel had dramatically declined in the face of competition from airlines and automobiles. The station has been adapted for use as a museum.

In 1940, a [[Union Underwear]] factory built in Bowling Green bolstered the city's economy significantly. During the 1960s, the city's population began to surpass that of [[Ashland, Kentucky|Ashland]], [[Paducah, Kentucky|Paducah]], and [[Newport, Kentucky|Newport]].

Downtown streets became a bottleneck for traffic. In 1949, the [[U.S. Route 31W]] Bypass was opened to alleviate traffic problems, but it also drew off business from downtown. The bypass grew to become a business hotspot in Bowling Green. A 1954 advertisement exclaimed, "Your business can grow in the direction Bowling Green is growing – to the 31-W By-Pass".

By the 1960s, the face of shopping was changing completely from the downtown retail square to suburban shopping centers. Between May and November 1967, stores in Bowling Green Mall opened for business. Another advertisement said, "One-stop shopping. Just park [free], step out and shop. You'll find everything close at hand." Between September 1979 and September 1980, stores in the larger [[Greenwood Mall (Kentucky)|Greenwood Mall]] came online. The city's limits began to stretch toward [[Interstate 65 in Kentucky|Interstate 65]].

By the late 1960s, Interstate 65, which runs just to the east of Bowling Green, was completed. The Green River Parkway (now called the [[William H. Natcher Parkway]] and renamed [[Interstate_165_(Kentucky)|I-165]] in April 2019), was completed in the 1970s to connect Bowling Green and [[Owensboro, Kentucky|Owensboro]]. These vital transportation arteries attracted many industries to Bowling Green.

In 1981, [[General Motors]] moved its [[Chevrolet Corvette]] [[Bowling Green Assembly Plant|assembly plant]] from [[St. Louis, Missouri]], to Bowling Green. In the same year, the [[National Corvette Homecoming]] event was created: it is a large, annual gathering of Corvette owners, car parades, and related activities in Bowling Green. In 1994, the [[National Corvette Museum]] was constructed near the assembly plant.

In 1997, Bowling Green was designated a [[Tree City USA]] by the [[National Arbor Day Foundation]].

===21st century===
[[File:BGChamber.JPG|thumb|The new Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce building was one of the first parts of the Downtown Redevelopment Project to reach completion.]]

In 2012, the city undertook a feasibility study on ways to revitalize the downtown Bowling Green area. The Downtown Redevelopment Authority was formed to plan redevelopment. Plans for the project incorporated Bowling Green's waterfront assets, as well as its historic center and streetscape around Fountain Square. It also proposed a new building for the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, construction of a Riverwalk Park where downtown borders the Barren River, creation of a new public park called Circus Square, and installation of a new retail area, the Fountain Square Market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.downtownbg.org/accomplishments/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509181336/http://www.downtownbg.org/accomplishments/|url-status=dead|title=The District - Accomplishments<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=May 9, 2008|access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref>

As of spring 2009, the new Chamber of Commerce, Riverwalk Park, and Circus Square have been completed. The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, a facility for arts and education, broke ground in October 2009 and celebrated its opening night on March 10, 2012, with a concert by [[Vince Gill]].<ref>[http://www.theskypac.com/event/opening-night-vince-gill] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315023044/http://www.theskypac.com/event/opening-night-vince-gill|date=March 15, 2012}}</ref>  Ground was broken for the Fountain Square Market in 2012.

In 2005, an effort was made to incorporate a Whitewater Park into the downtown Bowling Green riverfront at Weldon Peete Park. Due to the recession, the project was not funded.

In 2011, the Bowling Green Riverfront Foundation expanded its efforts to develop land on the opposite side of [[Barren River]] from [[Mitch McConnell]] Park (which is located alongside the U.S. 31-W Bypass and the riverbank, between Louisville Road and Old Louisville Road), upriver to Peete Park. The new plans include use of the adjacent river for white-water sports—the stretch of river includes rapids rated on the [[International Scale of River Difficulty]] between Class II and Class IV—as well as a [[mountain biking]] trail, a bicycle [[pump track]], and a [[rock climbing]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bgriverfront.org|title=Bowling Green Riverfront Foundation|access-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref> Some of this facility will be located on a reclaimed landfill, which had served as Bowling Green's garbage dump for many years.

===2021 tornadoes===
During the early-morning hours of December 11, 2021, [[2021 Bowling Green tornadoes|two destructive tornadoes]] struck Bowling Green. The first was an [[Enhanced Fujita scale#Parameters|EF3]] tornado that heavily damaged or destroyed several buildings and homes and killed seventeen people.<ref name="bowlinggreenpns">{{cite report|author=National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Louisville, Kentucky|title=NWS Damage Survey for 12/11/2021 Tornado Event|url=https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLMK&e=202112222005|publisher=Iowa Environmental Mesonet|date=December 22, 2021|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> The second tornado formed alongside the Main EF3 and caused additional damage on the southern and eastern parts of the city and was rated&nbsp;EF2.<ref>{{cite web|agency=National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Louisville, Kentucky|title=NWS Damage Survey for 12/11/21 Tornado Event|url=https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLMK&e=202112230117|publisher=Iowa Environmental Mesonet|date=December 22, 2021|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref>