Hillerich & Bradsby Hillerich woodworking shop. J. F. Hillerich was uninterested in making bats; he saw the company future in stair railings, porch columns and swinging butter churns. In fact, for a brief time in the 1880s, he even turned away ball players. Bud, however, saw the potential in producing baseball bats, and the elder Hillerich eventually relented to his son. The bats were sold under the name "Falls City Slugger" until Bud Hillerich took over his father's company in , and the name "Louisville Slugger" was registered with the U.S. Patent Office. In , Honus Wagner signed a deal with the company,
Louisville Assembly Plant Louisville Assembly Plant The Louisville Assembly Plant is an automobile manufacturing plant owned by Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Kentucky. The plant on 180 acres opened in 1955 and currently employs a total of 4,554 people. It is located adjacent to the Louisville International Airport on the south side of the city. Ford also operates another plant in Louisville, Kentucky Truck Assembly. The plant houses approximately of conveyor belts. Ford Motor Company began manufacturing Model T cars in Louisville in 1913, at 931 South Third Street. A new four story assembly plant at Third & Eastern Parkway opened in 1916.