Old Junior High School ~ The Yellow Building

What is left of the Junior High School: a monument.

 Thanks: Barbara Bloom

In a Cave in the Netherlands ~

Photo and Comment: Dan Roxbury

While in the Netherlands recently I visited the Velvet Cave. During WWII the cave, where I found this soldier's name, had been used as a shelter for the public and also by American Troops. Many soldiers have inscribed their names in this sandstone cave. I knew about this prior to visiting the cave and had been looking to spot where the soldiers wrote their names. The first thing I spotted was "S F Henry Butler PA". At first glance, I thought this was possibly my grandfather Henry Dottle from Butler PA. I was blown away because Butler PA is where I grew up, and I saw it written 2 more times. This was by far the highlight of my trip! I know my Grandfather was actively serving in Europe in 1945 when most of the names were written inside the cave. I will always wonder if he had been there or if he knew the other men from Butler who were. 

Two more photos

Korean War Memorial ~

Korea
1950 - 1953
The Forgotten War

Photo: Barbara Bloom

Broad Street School and War Memorial ~

Photo: Ken Cooper

Vietnam War Memorial ~ Our Gratitude

"To Those Who Died...
Honor And Eternal Rest,
To Those Still in Bondage...
Remembrance and Hope,
To Those Who Returned...
Gratitude and Peace"

[List of names]

Photo: Barbara Bloom

Doughboy Park ~

In Honor of the Boys of

Butler County

Who Served Their Country

And in Memory of Those Who

Made the Supreme Sacrifice

In The World War 1914-1918

Inscription on the monument

This park is located at the intersection of Cunningham St. and New Castle St. on a small strip of land.

Photo: Barbara Bloom

Diamond Square ~

A reminder of those who fought . . . and died.

Product ot Pullman Standard ~

A Pullman Standard railcar that has returned home to become a historical marker. It sits in front of the new transit authority bus station in the center of the Pullman business park. It was built at the Pullman Standard's Butler Plant in June 1974 (plant closed in 1982 and was demolished in 2005) and is a covered hopper car that carried grain. It was donated by GATX, transported back from Canada, restored in New Castle and sent back to Butler in Feb 2011. A more fitting memorial that just a plaque to the old plant and its workers.

                                             Photo and text: Robert Osborn

Doughboy Park ~

Photo: Barbara Bloom

Diamond Square ~ War Memorial

The most unusual memorial on the Diamond is the black-granite World War II Memorial. A map of the world, identifying countries involved in the war, is surrounded by a curving wall, made of sacks resembling a field-made bunker and topped by eagles.

Alfred Reed, First Lieutenant 134th Pa ~

Two Civil War cannons in Diamond Park with the name of a Butler soldier, Alfred G. Reed inscribed on them. Before the Battle of Fredrichsburg he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the 134th Pa. Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded in one of the last six disastrous charges against a 600-foot section of a chest-high stone wall occupied by the Confederates at the base of Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. and lated died from an infection of the fatal gunshot.

Our War Dead ~

For us to remember . . .

Butler's YMCA Swimming Coach ~

John. F. "Pump" McLaughlin
† March 28, 2004
Swimming teacher, coach, mentor, friend.
Left: Eric Namesnik, right: Alice Ann McLaughlin, Pump's niece.

[photographed in front of the YMCA]

Butler, Pa. --- Home of the Jeep

The first Jeep was designed at the American Bantam Car Company in Butler by Karl Probst. All in all, the company manufactured 2,675 of its version of the car. But the demand was so great and the Butler plant so small that the War Department authorized other larger companies in Detroit to produce their nearly identical version of the Jeep to fill the urgent military need. The Butler company went out of business in 1956.

Poem about our Jeep