A group collects at the Ford dealership on State Street in 1930 to see the 20 millionth Ford.

The way that automobiles are sold in Bowling Green has changed significantly in the more than 100 years that cars have been on Bowling Green roads.

The first personal automobile recorded on the streets of Bowling Green was built in 1900 by J. Bland Farnsworth, a local electrician, according to a National Register of Historic Places application for Bowling Green’s Modern Automotive District. His novelty, one-cylinder automobile was joined by the first factory-built models a few years later.

Automobiles became an increasingly common sight on city roads, including U.S. 31-W, which became known as the Dixie Highway because it was a major north-south route, according to the application.

A story published in a 1921 issue of “Popular Mechanics” calls Bowling Green “an early example of the future motorized city,” in a story about the end of street car service in the city as the street cars were replaced by automobiles.

The street car system in Bowling Green dated from 1889, according to an October 1976 story in the Daily News. The Park City Railway Co. originally used street cars pulled by mules. By 1895, electrified cars started to replace the mule-drawn street cars.

By 1911, at which time the Bowling Green Railway Co. had replaced the Park City Railway Co., the city had six miles of track and 10 cars in operation, according to the news story.

Street cars, during that period of time, were a way of transporting not only everyday passengers on excursions but also goods around town. Wedding parties would travel to and from church on the street cars and would occasionally even be used for funerals to transport the casket and immediate family members to the cemetery, according to the story.

The street cars stopped operation in Bowling Green in 1921 in the wake of financial troubles on the part of the Southern Traction Company, which operated the system at the time, including a lawsuit following a collision of one of the cars with a pedestrian, according to the story.

The “Popular Mechanics” story depicts Bowling Green as a city nearly overrun by automobiles by 1921. Rules to govern traffic and parking were strictly enforced. Those kinds of regulations were normally needed only in very large cities.

“This thriving little municipality, with a population of 15,000, claims the distinction of issuing more automobile licenses than any other city of its size in the country,” the story states, “It is said that there is an automobile to every three inhabitants.”

Bowling Green was the center of activity for the western Kentucky oil fields, and the “Popular Mechanics” story attributes the proliferation of automobiles in the city to this fact and the necessity of autos in that industry.

Automobiles in Bowling Green and across the nation were initially sold out of livery stables, blacksmith shops and carriage and bicycle stores, according to the National Register of Historic Places application. The waxing of one form of transportation while the other waned can be seen in the numbers of each type of establishment in the city between 1886 and 1930.

In 1886, there were six livery and feed businesses in the city, according to the application. By 1925 there were five livery and feed businesses and 10 automobile sales and service shops. By 1930 there were two livery and feed businesses and while the number of auto dealerships was steady at 10.

Buildings constructed for the sale of automobiles initially looked very similar to traditional main street businesses with a store front and upper levels. Buildings that didn’t have rear or side access for vehicles had a large door in the front so that automobiles could be driven in and out. One example of a traditional auto showroom is the Allen Motor Company Building, 416 11th Ave., from 1926, according to the application. It has large windows for viewing of vehicles and a large door for automobile access along with a smaller door for customers.

Often, the buildings also had similar layouts to traditional main street businesses, with the shop front for displays, a repair shop in the back room and upper floors used for inventory and storage, according to the application. Some shops even offered lockers, baths and showers for chauffeurs as livery stables had previously done for coachmen.

The Great Depression changed the way that automobile dealerships were built. Buildings became simpler as the sales of new cars dropped during the depression, according to the application. Auto manufacturers also started suggesting that dealerships move out of central downtown areas so there would be room for gas tanks, more show space and expansion.

By 1938, Bowling Green had three service stations and one car dealership – R.E. Wallace Motors, according to the application. At that time, the Daily News reported that Warren County led in automobile sales in southern Kentucky that year, reaching 423 vehicles compared to a combined 345 in Simpson, Logan and Caldwell counties. The number of dealerships rose to six by 1947.

The area designated as Warren County’s Modern Automotive District is located at 538, 600 and 601 State St. and is made up of buildings that once housed the Galloway Farm Equipment Co., the Hardcastle Filling Station and the Galloway Motor Co.

Brothers Henry F. and Frank L. Galloway moved their dealership from 1010 State St. to its location near Sixth Avenue and State Street on the advice of automobile manufacturers so they would be further from the main square and have room to grow and show inventory while remaining close to the main commercial district. They purchased the new space between 1945 and 1946, according to the application.

The Galloway Motor Co. building included large curved windows to allow for the viewing of the showroom from all directions at the intersection, according to the application. There was room in the showroom for four cars, but there was also plenty of outdoor space for new cars to be displayed. They styles the Modern Automotive District buildings are built in – Art Moderne and International – are meant to express speed, movement and machine precision.

Leachman Buick GMC Cadillac got its start in 1946 when Harry Leachman established it at a location on Center Street as a Dodge dealership and a gas station, General Manager David Jaggers said.

He believes it’s the oldest dealership in Bowling Green to still be owned by the same family. Its current owner is Bill Leachman, Harry Leachman’s son.

The dealership had several locations on center street and was located at one point on the spot of the Warren County Justice Center, Jaggers said.

The dealership moved to its current location at 2012 Scottsville Road in 1990, he said.

Traditional downtown business at that point in time had been receding and car manufacturers wanted dealerships to be located in high traffic areas such as Scottsville Road, Jaggers said.

The buildings that car dealerships use now have an emphasis on ease for customers, he said. There are large entrances so that cars can move in and out of the dealership and services areas that customers can easily pull into.

An emphasis on using the latest technology has also arisen in the industry Jaggers said. For example, Leachman uses QR codes on used cars.

Technology is one way that the cars Leachman sells have drastically changed since 1946, he said. More and more computers are being used in cars so that they operate more efficiently, he said.

“As technology has improved, so have the cars,” Jaggers said.

Jim Johnson of Jim Johnson Nissan Hyundai also said he’s seen the cars that he sells over the years change dramatically.

“Cars are just designed and built to last much longer,” he said.

The durability and efficiency of the cars built today are much better than those built during the early days of his first Bowling Green dealership, which opened selling Datsuns in 1973. At the time, the dealership was located near Western Kentucky University and the railroad underpass, Johnson said. The dealership near WKU was located on a hillside, making the use of parking brakes very important.

The dealership is now located at 2200 Scottsville Road. It built a Scottsville Road location in the 1980s. Though it once had other locations, the business has now been consolidated to the Scottsville Road location, he said.

Manufacturers want dealerships now to be both in a high traffic area and near competitors, which prompted the move to Scottsville Road, Johnson said.

The cars he sells now require less service and have longer warranties, though they are often more difficult to fix when they do break down because they systems are computerized and more complex, Johnson said.

Despite the advantages of modern vehicles, Johnson said he sometimes misses the style of the vehicles from his younger days.

“I still long for those classic, ’50s cars,” he said.

Johnson said his business has been able to grow as the economy in Bowling Green has thrived.

“Fortunately, we’ve been able to grow with the market,” he said.

While Jim Johnson Nissan Hyundai is preparing for sales of electric cars such as the Nissan LEAF to become a larger part of the market, Johnson said he believes that gas-powered cars are going to be the biggest part of the market for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

“I don’t think that’s going to change as much as some people do,” he said.

The Bowling Green automobile market now also includes Gary Force Honda and Toyota, Martin Dodge Jeep Chrysler Ram and Kia, Greenwood Ford Lincoln, Luxury Imports of Bowling Green and a variety of other car dealers.