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History · Bowling Green

Bowling Green’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Bowling Green. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

3old images & papers
9recent photos
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee County - ED 25-1 - ED 25-23, 1880 · Wikimedia Commons

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

One of the first settlers of the vicinity, A.M. Chester of Bowling Green, Kentucky, established a homestead in 1883. In 1886, he gave 40 acres (16 hectares) to the Florida Southern Railway, a service that continues to operate in the area. As it began to develop, the industries of citrus farming and phosphate mining took hold within the city.

The City of Bowling Green was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1927.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1880s2 items · 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps…Commons
1900Lewis Hicks, former slave of Robert Hendry- For…Commons
1910–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Be one of the first

Start Bowling Green’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bowling Green’s history is told.

1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Bowling Green

See all 1 →
PHPriscilla HusseyNotable
By decade

Bowling Green, decade by decade

1880s2 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee County - ED 25-1 - ED 25-23Commons1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee Co…18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee County - ED 25-1 - ED 25-23Commons1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee Co…1880
1900s1 item
Lewis Hicks, former slave of Robert Hendry- Fort Green, FloridaCommonsLewis Hicks, former slave of Robert Hendry- Fort Green, Flo…1900
1910s–
1990s
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
Today9 photos
Bowling Green FL old hotel03CommonsBowling Green FL old hotel032010Bowling Green FL old hotel02CommonsBowling Green FL old hotel022010Bowling Green FL old hotel01CommonsBowling Green FL old hotel012010Bowling Green FL old hotel pano01CommonsBowling Green FL old hotel pano012010Bowling Green FL city hall03CommonsBowling Green FL city hall032010Bowling Green FL city hall02CommonsBowling Green FL city hall022010Bowling Green FL city hall01CommonsBowling Green FL city hall012010Bowling green1CommonsBowling green12007FLMap-doton-BowlingGreenCommonsFLMap-doton-BowlingGreen2004
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Bowling Green is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bowling Green has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Downtown Wauchula Historic District in Wauchula, 6.3 miles away.

Bowling Green and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bowling Green. Tap a dot.
Downtown Wauchula Historic DistrictAlbert Carlton EstateFort Meade Historic DistrictChrist ChurchW. Henry Lewis HouseHomeland School

Closest to Bowling Green

Downtown Wauchula Historic DistrictWauchula · District6.3miAlbert Carlton EstateWauchula · Built 19036.6miFort Meade Historic DistrictFort Meade · District8miChrist ChurchFort Meade · Building8.1miW. Henry Lewis HouseFort Meade · Building8.4mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Downtown Wauchula Historic District’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bowling Green?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bowling Green’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida - Hardee County - ED 25-1 - ED 25-23 (1880) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Wauchula📜 Fort Meade📜 Zolfo Springs📜 Bartow

From Wikimedia Commons (12). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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