"Bluegrass" was a trade name used by the Belknap Hardware Company of Louisville, KY. The company was founded in 1840 by William Belknap and initially sold iron and forged iron parts. As the company grew, it added other hardware to its lines, including gun locks, which it had made by other manufacturers and then marked with its own tradename, one of which was "Bluegrass." Since the firm did not sell gun locks when it opened in 1840, "Bluegrass" locks probably did not appear until the mid-1840s or later; they continued to be sold until the start of the twentieth century. The Bluegrass name was also used on other hardware products sold by Belknap Hardware in Louisville. Shelby Gallien
