The county seat of Caroline County[5] since 1803, Bowling Green is best known as the "cradle of American horse racing", the home of the second-oldest Virginia Masonic Lodge, and the current location of the oldest continuously inhabited residence in Virginia.

One of the earliest stage roads in the colony ran through the area from Richmond to the Potomac River, where a ferry crossing was operated to Charles County, Maryland.

[7] The present Caroline County Court House was built in 1835 and Bowling Green was incorporated as a town about 2 years later, in 1837.

The town is best known as the "cradle of American horse racing" and as the home of the second-oldest Masonic Lodge in Virginia, Kilwinning Crosse, No.

Although the closest Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter passenger rail service to Northern Virginia is currently accessed at Fredericksburg, future VRE extensions southward may include service at Milford which would be very convenient for Bowling Green and the surrounding area.

[8] Today, Bowling Green is located along Virginia State Route 2, one of the two earlier highways between Richmond and Fredericksburg.

In 1941, the United States government acquired 77,000 acres (310 km2) of Caroline County to the north and east of Bowling Green and established the A.P.

Now known as Fort Walker, it was originally named for a Virginia military hero, U.S. Army and later Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill, who was killed just prior to the end of the War in 1865.

The installation's name was changed in 2023 to honor Mary Edwards Walker, an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, and surgeon.

At the massive complex, thousands of regular military and reserve troops undergo training each year.