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Butler County, PA
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Created on March 12, 1800, from part of Allegheny County
and named for General Richard Butler. It was attached to
Allegheny County until 1803. Butler, the county seat,
was laid out in 1803, incorporated as a borough on
February 26, 1817, and as a second-class city on 7,
1918.
 Made
up of Donation and Depreciation lands that were intended
to compensate Revolutionary War veterans, Butler was the
scene of many disputes over land titles in its early
years. Detmar Basse’s Zelienople and John A. Roebling’s
Saxonburg were early manufacturing centers.
The utopian Harmony Society resided here from 1804 to
1814. Butler was an Underground Railroad station. An oil
boom occurred briefly during the mid-1860s, followed by
natural gas production. Bituminous coal mining later
developed and is still strong. By World War II, the
county was making railroad cars, military vehicles,
rolled steel, glass, and gasoline. Defying the decline
of industry and population that western Pennsylvania has
seen since the 1960s, Butler goes right on producing
light metal, rubber, printed, and optical items. The
value added to the economy by Butler County’s
manufacturing increased by 50 percent between 1987 and
1992. Farming continues to be financially successful.
The population growth is associated with Pittsburgh’s
residential population exodus. |
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