Template:Wp-Warren County, Kentucky-History

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Warren County was the location of several Native American villages and ancient burial mounds constructed by earlier cultures. The first white men to enter the area were the long hunters in the 1770s. General Elijah Covington was among the first landowners. McFadden's Station, one of the earliest settlements, was established in 1785 by Andrew McFadden/McFadin on the northern bank of the Barren River at the Cumberland Trace.

Warren County became the 23rd county of Kentucky in 1796, from a section of Logan County. It was named after General Joseph Warren of the Revolutionary War. He dispatched William Dawes and Paul Revere on their famous midnight ride to warn residents of the approaching British troops. He was also a hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Through the riverboat trade, Warren County thrived in the agricultural market. In 1859, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (currently CSX Transportation) was laid through the county.^[1]

During the Civil War, most residents are said to have favored the Union.^[1] Because of its strategic value Warren County was occupied by Confederate forces in September 1861. It was occupied in turn by the Union Army on February 14, 1862, following the Confederate retreat to Tennessee.^[1] During the Confederate withdrawal, they destroyed railroad bridges in Barren County, the Bowling Green train depot and other railroad buildings to hinder Union pursuit.

The completion of Interstate 65 and Green River Parkway, later renamed the William H. Natcher Parkway, (and in 2019 was renamed as the I-165,) in the 1960s and 1970s, brought an industrial boom that transformed the farm-oriented county into a more urban one.^[1]

In 1997, Bowling Green became a Tree City USA, sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation.