Butler County Historical Society

Established in 1927, Butler County Historical Society's main goal was to preserve the history and culture of the county. Back in 1927 a group of locals of the county met to discuss what contiburtion they could make to portray the history of their society. 

About the County 

The Iroquois Confederacy controlled the land that is now Butler County, Pennsylvania for many years prior to 1753, when the French began to establish a series of forts in this area. This activity culminated in the French and Indian War. After the Revolution, when the new Federal government had no means to pay soldiers, patents, or deeds, for land here was given to soldiers in lieu of pay. Most soldiers sold their land to speculators in the East and the area remained unsettled. In 1784-85 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased what is now northwestern Pennsylvania from the Iroquois Confederacy. One of the three commissioners who negotiated the purchase was Richard Butler. Still settlement did not occur until after the Treaty of Greenville, in the Ohio country, in 1795. This treaty removed most of the natives from western Pennsylvania, and white settlement of the area began. The battle of Fallen Timbers in 1791 was the first in the series of battles leading up to the treaty. Richard Butler, then a General under St. Clair, was mortally wounded in this battle. Richard Butler had been instrumental in the formation of Allegheny County as a separate political entity from Westmoreland County in 1790. When eight new counties were formed from Allegheny County in 1800, the county immediately north of Allegheny County chose to call itself Butler County, in memory of Richard Butler, who had also been a hero of the Revolution and a friend to George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. The village of Butler was designated the county seat in 1800, and the first courthouse was constructed in 1803. The village was chartered as a borough in 1828, and is now an urban center of more than 30,000 people. John RoeblingJohn Roebling, inventor of wire cable and designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, purchased land in Butler County, where he established a settlement called Saxonburg in 1820. It was here, in his workshop, that the German engineer invented what he called “wire rope.” Use of this material revolutionized machinery throughout the world, making equipment much stronger and more durable. When his design was chosen for the Brooklyn Bridge, scientists said no suspension bridge relying on wire cable was strong enough to span the width of the river.