Warren County

History

Warren County, the twenty-fourth in order of formation, is located in southern Kentucky. By the 1870s, Warren County was one of the wealthiest in the commonwealth. It had one of the finest courthouses in the state and many business and agricultural enterprises. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Bowling Green became the site of various educational institutions, including the predecessors of Western Kentucky University. Except for Bowling Green, Warren County was primarily agricultural until the completion of 1-65 through the central and eastern part of the county during the late 1960s and the Green River Parkway through the western part in the late 1970s. The county then underwent an industrial boom that changed its nature. By 1979, 64 percent of the county population was urban, 23 percent was rural nonfarm, and only 13 percent lived on farms. There was an increase in the number of farms in the county but a decrease in their size, as many rural residents were part-time farmers who worked fulltime jobs in Bowling Green.

	Fountain Square Park.
	Western Kentucky University Cherry Hall