[5][6][7] Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War.

Bowling Green is also home to Western Kentucky University (or WKU for short), and the National Corvette Museum.

[8] Present-day Bowling Green developed from homesteads erected by Robert[8] and George Moore and General Elijah Covington, the namesake of the town near Cincinnati.

[8] 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.

Growth in steamboat commerce and the proximity of the Barren River increased Bowling Green's prominence.

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: [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.

On September 18, 1861, around 1,300 Confederate soldiers arrived from Tennessee to occupy the city, placed under command of Kentucky native General Simon Bolivar Buckner.

[11] The Confederates fortified surrounding hills to secure possible military approaches to the valuable river and railroad assets.

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 Confederacy.

One of the most important businesses in Bowling Green of this era was Carie Burnam Taylor's dress-making company.

[13] In 1884, the Southern Normal School, which had been founded in 1875, moved to Bowling Green from the town of Glasgow, Kentucky.

In 1940, a Union Underwear factory built in Bowling Green bolstered the city's economy significantly.

In 1981, General Motors moved its Chevrolet Corvette assembly plant from St. Louis, Missouri, to Bowling Green.

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

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.

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.

[19] The second tornado formed alongside the Main EF3 and caused additional damage on the southern and eastern parts of the city and was rated EF2.

[27] A 2011 study estimated that WKU salaries account for approximately 10% of all income earned in Warren County, which includes the city.

[33] The Japan-based Kobe Steel Ltd. operates a large assembly plant in Bowling Green, manufacturing aluminum products used in car bumpers and frames for the North American auto sector; construction of the plant began in 2016,[34] and began operation in 2018.

[35] Camping World Holdings Inc., an RV company, was founded in Bowling Green in 1966 by David Garvin, the owner of the Beech Bend amusement park; the company maintains Bowling Green as one of three headquarters (the others being Lincolnshire, England and Denver, Colorado).

[37] Apparel manufacturer Union Underwear Co. LLC, doing business as Fruit of the Loom, is headquartered in Bowling Green,[38] employing about 930 people in the city as of 2022.

It also hosted the KHSAA Girls' Sweet Sixteen state championship event in high school basketball from 2001 to 2015, after which it moved to BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University.

In 2021 as part of Minor League Baseball's realignment they began play in the newly formed High-A East.

All schools are operated by the Warren County district except Bowling Green High and Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky operates GO bg Transit, which provides public transportation within Bowling Green.

Greyhound now serves a stop in Franklin, Kentucky, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Bowling Green.

Bowling Green receives rail freight service from CSX through the former Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) namesake line.