Have you ever wondered why Bowling Green is called “Bowling Green?”
Perhaps someone wanted to have a bowling alley built and then painted completely green.
Maybe somebody wanted to go bowling and only play with green bowling balls.
Sadly, our city’s indoor bowling location, Southern Lanes, based on photos from its website, does not appear to have been painted completely green. So, it would seem that that particular explanation and rationale is completely off the table for now.
Let’s make the place green and give our city a namesake bowling alley that everyone will see and go, “Wow, so that’s why it’s called that!”
I hope Southern Lanes gets painted green soon, though. That would be a hoot and a half, don’t you think?
We don’t have to have green bowling alleys absolutely everywhere, just enough of them to give our city’s name the most hilarious and obvious reason for existing.
The Fountain Square Park in the middle of our city reflects a desire to keep our outdoor spaces vibrant and green. Look at the beautiful grass, yellow tulips and many trees there.
Maybe people coming to the city for the first time could have even seen its natural flora and gotten “bowled” over with how tremendously green it was.
According to the Bowling Green municipal website, the city received its name in 1798. That year, pioneers decided to call it “Bolin Green” after a certain Bowling Green Square in New York city.
According to the article, during the American Revolution, a King George III statue in NYC’s Bowling Green Square was “pulled down,” and bullets were made from recycled lead.
The Bowling Green Square, according to the National Park Service, is the oldest public park in New York city. The King George III statue was built several years before it was pulled down.
Pulling it down probably put a dent in the floor around it. I wonder how much work it took to fix that dent afterwards?
According to the Kentucky Historical Society, the origin story of Bowling Green’s name is disputed. It could have also been named after the “bowling” green plants that were once prolifically present there.
If the city were built near the ocean, would we have called it “Bowling Blue?”
What if the flowers that the first residents here found were all red in color. Would it have been called “Bowling Red?” Who knows?
In any event, no one really knows for sure the exact and definite reason for our city being named the way it is.
Maybe the light will shine on it one day, but for now, the name “Bowling Green” remains a mystery to be solved.
