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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Master Builder Harry Wimer ~

Harry Wimer [†1950]
constructed this building and many other impressive Butler buildings including the Butler Savings and Trust (now the new PNC Bank), Elm Court, TW Phillips Gas Building, Butler "Eagle" Publishing Company Building and the Butler Senior High School (now Junior High)
Photo: Bob Hazy

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Saturday, June 25, 2011

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.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

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.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Clara Barton Visits Butler ~

Photo: civilwaracademy.com
Clara Barton, Civil War nurse and founder of the America Red Cross spoke at the present Hill United Presbyterian Church on Brady and Second Streets when she came here to help with the great Typhoid Epidemic in 1903/1904. 127 people died in Butler and there were some 1,500 cases. About 1 out 13 people in Butler/Lyndora had typhoid. This was to be Barton's last mission for the Red Cross. It was her visit which started the Red Cross here in Butler. Clara Barton nursed at the Battle of Antietam.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hurrican Hazel ~ October 15, 1954

Photo: Barbara Bloom
Looking east on Cunningham St. toward Chestnut St. with the Walsh Equipment Building in the background.
For more pictures click here.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Broad Street School ~

Photo: Barbara Bloom
This picture was taken in Aug. 1973. I attended first through fourth grade at Broad St. school. My teachers were: Mrs. Helen McCandless (first), Ruth Goldblum (second), Miss Lilian Adami (third), and Mrs. Virginia Welton (not sure about that name) (fourth). I can still remember that each room had its own "cloak room" where we would hang our coats and keep our boots during the winter. The gym class was in the basement as were the bathrooms. B.Blum

Friday, April 08, 2011

Remembering Butler Firefighters ~

On April 8, 2001 Scott Wilson [left] and Anthony Murdick [below], both 25, died while attempting to recover the body of kayaker Neil Balcer, 23, from the Slippery Rock Creek near McConnell's Mill. We have not forgotten these dedicated men.

More that 500 fire departments sent firefighters and trucks to participate in the funeral procession. They came from as far away as Texas.
Photos: Unionville VFD

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Ronald Stutz BHS '52

                                          
+ 4 November 2010

Ronald Stutz BHS '52 was a very talented basketball star on the BHS team from '48-'52 and was one of the first to make the varsity team while only a freshman. He also played football. He was a member of the 1950 Butler High School football team that won the WPIAL Championship with a perfect 12-0 record. After high school he went on to play football in the US Army where he earned MVP honors.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lake Arthur and Old 422 ~ Moraine State Park


This picture was taken in 1969 when Lake Arthur was beginning to fill. You can see the remains of Old Rt. 422 before it was covered by water. 
Photo: Barbara Bloom

Friday, March 04, 2011

Stanley's Bakery ~

They had been making donuts for us since 1946.
Closed: March 3, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

Dedication of St.Paul Church ~ September 10, 1911


It was a glorious day 100 years ago today.  
St. Paul Church Dedication
September 10, 1911

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Michele Pawk ~ Butler Actress ~ Knock HS '80

In 1992 Michele appeared Crazy for You, 1994 in Merrily We Roll Along, 1996 in Chicago, 1998 in Cabaret - and an original musical, Seussical in 2000.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Wilbur Glenn Dumbaugh ~ BHS '45

+ 22 July 2010
It was his voice. We knew him as a business man. But his true love was music. He had a rich baritone voice and was in demand as a soloist. His voice graced many a choir here and in Western Pennsylvania.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Diamond Square ~ 1910

A postcard written to C.C. Boyer on September 8, 1909. Mr. Boyer was the general contractor in the building of the original Wayne St. Viaduct.

Photos: Barbara Bloom
[Granddaughter of C.C. Boyer]
Mr. Boyer on the right.
[below] Mr. Boyer in the back seat.



Monday, December 13, 2010

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Saturday, November 06, 2010

BHS Football Results ~ 2010

                                                           Photo: goldentornedosports.net
BHS 00 [L] - New Castle 25
BHS 00 [L] - North Allegheny 48
BHS 14 [L] - Canon-McMillan 19
BHS 07 [L] - Pine Richland 35
BHS 06 [L] - Shaler 30
BHS 00 [L] - North Hills 34
BHS 00 [L] - Mars 40
BHS 13 [L] - Erie McDowell 42
BHS 17 [L] - Seneca Valley 41

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Alva Hill ~ Butler Architect


Ralph Burt, Dick Rittelmann, John Kosar and Alva Hill 

Alva Hill [right] was the founder founder of the Butler architecture firm, Burt,Hill. He started with the firm in 1952, along with Ralph Burt. Although Burt-Hill is now a multinational firm (and is being acquired later this year by a Canadian firm), the largest office still is in Butler, employing roughly 150 people here.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Hill was an accomplished pilot fighting in World War II flying a P51 Mustang fighter plane. Consequentially, Mr. Hill met Mr. Burt during the war and returned to their hometown of Butler to make architectural history.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Butler Theater ~

The Butler Warner Theater on Jefferson Street was torn down [1960] to make room for PNC's drive-through bank.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Old Butler ~ Excavation ~ Preserving ~

They tore down the old Army-Navy Store to make a parking lot for Young's Funeral Home across the street and this is what we see now on the side of the building.
Photo: Dick Vernon
Preserving and beautifying. September 2010
Photo: Bob Orsborn

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Elm Court ~ The House We Never Saw

The fountain at the Polk Street entrance . . .
. . . we felt regal when we sat here and wondered.

Friday, September 03, 2010

The Lowrie/Shaw House ~ Behind the Court House


This house was built by Walter Lowrie, Butler's United States senator, in 1828. The house and its furnishings were bequeathed to the Butler Historical Society in 1986, by Isabelle Shaw, a descendent of the Sullivan family, owners of the house since 1839.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Tuesday, August 03, 2010