Bowling Green, the County seat of Caroline since 1803, is located 72 miles south of Washington, D.C., 108 miles southeast of Baltimore, Maryland and 35 miles north of Virginia's capital, Richmond. The Blue Ridge Mountains and the beaches of the Atlantic are both within 100 miles. It is near some of the most popular tourist attractions, such as Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and Paramount's Kings Dominion.

Bowling Green is a town of beautiful trees, spacious lawns and comfortable homes. Major religious denominations maintain numerous churches. Popular civic and fraternal organizations are well established. The municipality owns and operates a "town hall," which civic, educational and social groups may rent for meetings and entertainment at a modest fee.

Caroline County has abundent soft water, fertile river valleys and a variety of soils adopted to staples, livestock and poultry raising. Fertilizer, lumber and other forest and farm products are produced in quantity. Skilled and unskilled labor are available at a fair wage. Factory sites may be secured at a reasonable cost. The Comprehensive Land Use Plans of both municipalities encourage economic and residential growth.

The Town of Bowling Green and Caroline County invite new industries and development. We are working to create a positive image which will strengthen the economic structure and produce civic pride of the entire community. Through a successful cooperative effort, the Town Council, the Caroline Board of Supervisors, residents and businesses have produced a quality of life which has influenced people and businesses to locate and remain in the community.

Legend holds that Bowling Green took its name from a colonial-era lawn-bowling green located near the site of the courthouse when the town became Caroline County's seat in 1803. This is a pleasant story, but it is not strictly accurate. While the old bowling green did exist, and was perhaps a contributing factor in choice of the town's name, the town was actually named for Bowling Green, estate of its founder, Col. John Waller Hoomes.

Old Mansion, a splendid specimen of early American architecture, is the oldest continuously inhabited residence in Virginia. Major Thomas Hoomes built it in 1667 and named it "Bowling Green" after his family's ancestral seat in England, "Bolling Green". It kept the name "Bowling Green" until 1803, when Hoomes donated land to build the present courthouse. As the community around the new court area grew, it adopted the estate's name. Hence, the Hoomes estate, already more then 135 years old, began to be referred to as "Old Mansion". Old Mansion, in its almost 320 years of history, has been the scene of many interesting events. Legend says that George Washington and his troops camped in front of the house on their way to Yorktown in 1781. Evidence substantiates that a few weeks later, Washington honored Lafayette with a huge banquet served on the same lawn to celebrate Cornwallis' surrender.

Perhaps the most interesting piece of history connected with Old Mansion is that it was the site of the first horse racing track built in America. No sooner had Maj. Hoomes moved into his new home than he built a race track along the oval in front of this mansion. When other settlers arrived in the section, he persuaded them to breed horses and developed match races. His heirs and the heirs of his neighbors continued this custom and Bowling Green became the horse racing center of Britain's American colonies. In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the Virginia Jockey Club held its annual races at Bowling Green, and frequently the area was the site of the races of the larger American Jockey Club. There were at least three race tracks, one on the Old Mansion grounds and two located on the road leading to Milford.

To maintain local racing supremacy, Caroline breeders imported horses from abroad. In 1764, Col. John Baylor of New Market (Route 301, 3 miles south of Bowling Green) brought in the celebrated stud, Fearnought, from England at the huge cost of 1000 guineas, and a few years later the Hoomes' acquired Sterling. These two famous studs became the patriarchs of American race horses. Horses of their bloodlines still race on all major American tracks.

After 1800, horse racing declined at Bowling Green, but in the second quarter of this century C.T. Chenery revived the breeding and training of race horses in Caroline when he established a horse farm at the Meadow, Here Hill Prince, the horse of the year for 1950, was foaled and trained. Triple Crown Winner Secretariat and Riva Ridge were also raised in Caroline County.

Celebraties from all sections of the colonies were entertained at New Hope Tavern. The tavern was built prior to 1700, and was not only used to entertain horse racing guests but for the convenience of travelers along the stage road, which ran from Richmond across Caroline County to the Potomac. One of the first stage lines in America to maintain a regular schedule operated along this road. Because of the tavern's importance, a trading center grew up around it which became known as New Hope village.

Caroline County's courthouse was located on this site from about 1750 to 1803. Here, Edmund Pendleton, one of the twelve in Virginia's "Hall of Immortals", practiced law. Here, John Penn, signer of the Declaration of Independence, received his legal education. Here in 1771, the sheriff whipped two ministers for preaching without a license, and here, the same year, the court imprisoned six other ministers for the same crime. They were held in the adjacent jail until Patrick Henry came from Hanover and secured their release through his eloquence.

St. Asaph parish was established in 1780. It was the last parish set up by the government in Virginia before the separation of church and state. Its original church was located near the old courthouse (entrance to A.P. Hill), and it's second building was set up in Bowling Green shortly after the courthouse was moved to the town. The Episcopalians sold the house of worship to the Methodist Church after the Civil War.

Kilwinning-Crosse was the second Masonic Lodge established in America. It was originally chartered for the town of Port Royal (Rt. 301, 11 miles northeast of Bowling Green) prior to 1754. It lay dormant for a period after the Civil War and was revived in 1881 and established in Bowling Green. Its records hold the most interesting Masonic lore in America.

In 1803, the courthouse of Caroline County was moved to New Hope Tavern, until a new one could be built on a site across the stage road donated by Col. John Waller Hoomes. The present court house was built in 1835. On its walls hang portraits of Edmund Pendleton, Gen. William Woodford and other of Caroline's illustrious sons. Queen Caroline's actual coronation portrait hangs above the Judge's bench-England has but a copy. In the Circuit Court Clerk's office, records may be found pertaining to many of America's most illustrious families.

Operated during the Civil War by the Gouldman family, this 1820 tavern became a notorious Confederate spy haven. In the early morning hours of April 26, 1865, Federal troops in search of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, woke young Pvt. Willie Storke Jett, CSA, as he slept in "Gouldman's Tavern," and at gunpoint forced him to reveal where he had left Booth. Jett was then forced to lead them to the hiding place of Booth, at the Garret farm on Route 301, seven miles northeast of Bowling Green.

In 1941, the Federal Government acquired 77,000 acres of Caroline County to the north and east of Bowling Green and established the A.P. Hill Military Reservation. Here thousands of troops undergo training in the national defense program annually.

On Easter Sunday, 1900, the Town's business district burned to the ground, leaving people and animals homeless, and their livelihoods destroyed. The livery stable burned, the stores crumbled into hot heaps, and the barns vanished in a fiery blaze. The good people of Bowling Green tried to fight the flames, but when morning came, a good bit of the village was gone--just ashes. Eventually, the town was rebuilt and for the next 55 years stood solid until Easter Sunday afternoon in 1955. The fire siren sounded atop the town water tank, and as the wind picked up, the sirens mingled with the wind to make a terrible moaning sound.

An old barn behind the west side of the business district was on fire. The clapboard buildings burned fast and by nightfall, the main business district was once again gone. The old courthouse was saved, as was the stone bank building (now Flower Fashions), several gas stations (site of shorty's Texaco and Penney Realty), and buildings south at the intersections of Main and Milford Street and the south side of Milford Street. The fire was contained, thanks to the heroic efforts of local men and women, Fort A.P. Hill personnel and many fire companies from all over Virginia, Maryland and other states. The very next day, plans were made to reopen stores in other places on a temporary basis, such as in the Town Hall, the fire station, in tents and wherever a business could be housed.

Kidwell's grocery store was up and running within a few days, the barber shop was in business and Tinder's Jewelry opened with a new line of beautiful jewelry. Bowling Green was taking care of business as usual. They built back as you see it today--brick was used for good reason.

The downtown business district will be getting a new face-lift thanks to the efforts of the Historic and Economic Leadership Panel of Bowling Green (H.E.L.P.), the Town Manager and staff, Planning Commission and the Town Council. The town was awarded a Virginia Department of Transportation grant which will fund 80% of a street-scape project along a portion of Main Street. The additional 20% will come from contributions from H.E.L.P., Union Bank & Trust Co., the town and area businesses.

The project will include new "antique" street-lights, brick sidewalks, landscaping and street furniture, along with placing above-ground utilities underground. To review the needs of the overall downtown area, the town has drafted the Bowling Green Downtown Revitalization Action Plan. This Plan reviews the downtown area's current condition and outlines actions the town can take to improve it. Visit us often and watch our progress. We are proud of our community, and the spirit that will march us into the next century.