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, Georgia the Jefferson County Courthouse. Queensborough National Bank and Trust Company was founded in 1902 and is currently headquartered in Louisville, on U.S. Highway 1. Louisville is located slightly south of the center of Jefferson County at (33.004291, -82.404588). U.S. Route 1 passes through the east side of the city, leading northeast to Augusta and south to Swainsboro. U.S. Route 221 passes through the north side of downtown as Peachtree Street and leads southwest to Bartow. US-221 leaves Louisville to the north, running with US-1 to Wrens before continuing north toward Harlem. According to the United States Census Bureau, Louisville has