History of Louisville, Kentucky charter member. While the Grays were a relatively short-lived team, playing for only two years, they began a much longer lasting relationship between the city and baseball. In 1883, John "Bud" Hillerich made his first baseball bat from white ash in his father's wood shop. The first bat was produced for Pete "The Gladiator" Browning of the Louisville Eclipse (minor league team). The bats eventually become known by the popular name, "Louisville Slugger", and the local company Hillerich & Bradsby rapidly became one of the largest manufacturers of baseball bats and other sporting equipment in the world. Today, Hillerich &
Louisville Railway 1905 980-1049 St Louis Car Company 1905 1050-1112 Cincinnati Car Company 1910 Twenty-five PCC cars numbered 501-525 were ordered from the St. Louis Car Company in 1946 but the order was cancelled before delivery was completed. The Louisville-bound cars were instead sold to the Cleveland Transit System where they became numbers 4250-4274. Louisville Railway The Louisville Railway Company (LRC) was a streetcar and interurban rail operator in Louisville, Kentucky. It began under the name Louisville City Railway in 1859 as a horsecar operator and slowly acquired other rival companies. It was renamed in 1880 following the merger of all Mule