Guest Columns

Kentucky has long been a major player in the automotive industry, but few know that this relationship is fast approaching its 100th anniversary.

It all began in 1913, when Henry Ford’s fledging company set up an assembly operation on South Third Street in Louisville.  Seventeen people worked there, including the on-site sales team, and they churned out 12 vehicles a day while being paid about eight cents an hour.

When it comes to traveling, my oldest daughter thinks she’s cursed.

I don’t know about “cursed,” but she definitely has had her share of mishaps.

Last summer she and granddaughter Caroline took a trip from their home in Virginia to visit my other daughter in Charlotte, N.C.

The three of them went to Charleston, S.C. and Caroline barfed, which put a damper on their plans. Then Caroline stayed sick, ending Alison’s plans for a side trip to visit a friend on the way home.

If today turns out to be an average one for Kentucky’s hospitals, here is a glimpse of what is taking place: More than 6,600 patients will be treated in emergency rooms; 14,000 more will be helped with other outpatient services; 1,500 will be discharged after a stay of about four-and-a-half days; and 150 of the state’s newest citizens will be born.

For most of Kentucky’s history, there were only two ways to get from one place to another: By horse or by boat. Even when railroads began reaching across the state in the 1830s, these methods of travel remained the backbone of our early transportation system.

While rivers were essentially open to anyone, the same could not be said of our first roads, almost all of which were privately owned even well past the Civil War. Those wanting to use them could expect to pay a hefty price, too, since toll gates were built about five miles apart on average.