The increasing popularity of automobiles and travel led to a nationwide boom in city camping grounds for travelers with lighting and bathroom facilities.

On Sept. 6, 1921, the Daily News reported that the secretary of the chamber of commerce, H.L. Underwood, suggested a tourist camp for Bowling Green. It was built in 1922 next to the waterworks at First and Chestnut streets. Private camps were also built, which cost a small fee, and by 1929 the free camp was closed, citing the decreasing need and an increase in an “undesirable” criminal element.

– “Way Back When in Warren County” is compiled by researchers at the Warren County Public Library and appears twice weekly in the Bowling Green Daily News. For more information about the library, visit warrenpl.org.