Dan Bickel, Moraine State Park manager, shows a map illustrating the glacier that led to the park bearing the “Moraine” name. The map is one of the items from the property of the late Frank Preston that Butler Township donated to the park.

MUDDY CREEK TWP — A better understanding of Moraine State Park's history is being gained thanks to the late Frank Preston.

Butler Township recently donated 15 items from Preston's property on South Eberhart Road to the park. The items mostly are maps, charts and photographs of the park.

“We certainly appreciate that,” said park manager Dan Bickel. “It was great of those guys to do that.”

Part of the reason the township donated the items is because Preston was a major force in opening the park, helping to found the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which bought the property the park now sits on in the 1960s. Workers built a dam on Muddy Creek to form Lake Arthur in 1968. The 16,725-acre park opened in 1970.

Preston, a glass researcher and amateur geologist and naturalist, died in 1989. Jane Preston, Frank Preston's widow, left the couple's property to the township when she died in 2008.

Dave Zarnick, a Butler Township commissioner, said the items would sit in the Preston house, which is locked, if the park did not have them. Having the park display the items would allow more people to see them.

“Where else should they go other than their home?” Zarnick said. “Butler Township was pleased to partner with Moraine State Park.”

Bickel said the items also are helping to close some gaps in the park's history.

“We have an extensive history of Moraine State Park, but there are some details ... that these materials will help fill in,” Bickel said.

One map, drawn in 1960, shows locations of gas and oil wells in and around the park.Workers had to plug 422 oil and gas wells to help get the park ready to open. The map also shows a diagram of the capturing of Massy Harbison by American Indians in 1792 and contains the tidbit that the first petroleum products in Butler County were bottled and sold as medicine.Another map shows that there were plans for a second lake north of Lake Arthur. It was supposed to be called Lake Robertson and was to be located along Route 108 in Slippery Rock and Worth Townships. Like Lake Arthur, it would have been dammed off of Muddy Creek.There also is a picture of Frank Preston standing by Muddy Creek.Bickel said he finds the story of the park's founding interesting. He said it would be much more difficult to open the park today due to increased regulation and scrutiny.“It is a unique story,” Bickel said. “You could never do it today.”The items are being used by the park in a PowerPoint presentation of its history. The park began putting the presentation together last October, and it is 50 percent complete.“So, that has helped build the program more,” Bickel said. “There is definitely a lot of interest in that history.”Bickel said the park received a grant through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to buy archiving materials to preserve the items. He said that the park is looking for volunteers to help it scan in some of the artifacts.Bickel said anyone with materials related to the park's history or who would like to volunteer should contact the park office at 724-368-8811.

Dave Zarnick