LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville officials celebrated one the cities most tenured companies.

The Ford Motor Company has been a part of Louisville since 1913 when they were building Model T's on South Third Street. Since then, the company has gone on to maintaining two of the largest facilities in the country and turning out everything from the LTD to the new model of the Escape at the Louisville Assembly Plant and the "Super Duty" line of trucks at the Kentucky Truck Plant.

To commemorate the event, Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson proclaimed today "Ford Day" in Kentucky while Mayor Greg Fischer renamed the city "Ford Country USA" in their honor.

Abramson says he made numerous trips to Dearborn to keep the manufacturer in town and feels the company's future in Kentucky is solid. Abramson says now that he is in Frankfort, he is seeing companies across the state who are here solely because of the two Ford plants in Louisville and is always trying to get more to open across the state.

Photo: Will Clark, NewsRadio 84 WHAS