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 Railway in area, extending northeast to Crestwood. 1904 - Louisville & Interurban Railroad opens its first interurban line, east to Jeffersontown. Louisville & Interurban Railroad was owned by Louisville Traction Co., a holding company which also owned Louisville Railway Co. 1904 - Line also opened northeast to Prospect, by electrifying a Louisville & Nashville steam railroad branch former Louisville Harrods Creek and Westport Railway. This would be the only interurban line in the Louisville area, with broad gauge on all other electric railways in area. 1905 - Louisville & Interurban Railroad opens interurban line southeast to Okolona. 1907 - Louisville &