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 and Nashville Turnpike Louisville and Nashville Turnpike The Louisville and Nashville Turnpike was a toll road that ran from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee during the 19th century. From Louisville, one route now called US highway 31W (further discussed below) ran through Elizabethtown, Munfordville, Glasgow Junction (now Park City), Bowling Green, and Franklin to the Tennessee line. The other Route ran through Bardstown, Buffalo, Glasgow, and Scottsville and is currently named U.S. 31E. The name survives in abbreviated form along routes including Kentucky State Highways 335 and 470. The route currently named US Hwy 31W was first proposed in 1825 by Kentucky Governor