Butler, PA Walkabout

Over the Christmas holiday, I was able to explore parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania. On December 23rd, we took a drive up to and walked around the town of Butler.

To visit the entire photo set on flickr, head here.

Butler is a unique town of 15,000 located about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. It is the county seat of Butler County. The County Courthouse (shown below) was built in 1885 and is still in use today.

One of more unique buildings in Bulter is the Butler County Motor Company Ford Dealership.

This is the first time I had seen an automotive dealer be housed in a multi-story building like this. The Butler County Motor Company (aka Butler County Ford) has been around since 1918 and was one of the first Ford automotive dealerships authorized by Henry Ford.

Walking down Main Street in Butler - there are a number of great older building, storefronts, and ghost signs.

One of the buildings that caught my eye at the end was the home of the Penn Theatre. Even though looking up the theatre online says that it is being renovated, it looks in pretty bad shape, and most of those articles date to 2005 and the theatre looks a lot better then.

The theatre was built in 1938 and was sold in 2001. Currently, the Butler Penn Theatre Community Trust hopes to renovate the Penn Theatre but the last information I found was a presentation from 2009. I certainly hope that this theatre can be renovated and that various events small, large, local, and otherwise can occur there.

Finally, it was a cold day and even some snow flurries briefly fell through the air. Maggie and I stopped at a Downtown Butler tradition, Cummings Candy and Coffee Shop to warm up and get something to eat.

The Cummings family have owned and operated the shop since 1905 - making it the oldest family owned business in Butler! Inside definitely has an old fashioned soda shop feel, and it's a great place to have some coffee or tea or a quick snack.

There's a lot more to Butler than the quick 30 or so minute walk that Friday before Christmas. It was certainly worth the drive to check out for the first time.

Comments

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California. Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada. The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926. Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938. A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947. Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association. Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe. Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works during its Centennial Edition. The or...

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush. The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway. In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50. The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County. That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848. During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog