Butler’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Butler. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Butler was platted in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named for David Butler, a pioneer. Butler was incorporated as a town in 1866, and as a city in 1903.
On July 23, 1966, Butler was one of the end points of a record-setting speed run by a New York Central RDC-3, M-497 Black Beetle, modified with a pair of jet engines, as the rail line between it and Stryker, Ohio, was both straight and flat. The car reached a speed of 183.68 mph (295.6 km/h), an American rail speed record that still stands today.
The Downtown Butler Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Start Butler’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butler’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewButler Masonic Lodge, 100 South B…: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Butler
See all 2 →
Butler, decade by decade
2000
unknown1 item
1 historic place in Butler
Butler has 1 listing on the National Register, and they protect 30 historic buildings, because Downtown Butler Historic District alone counts 30.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Butler Masonic Lodge, 100 South Broadway and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (7) and the Library of Congress (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.