Former Butler County Commissioner Bill McCarrier presents his book, "Families and Homes of West Sunbury," to Kathy Kline, director of the North Trails Public Library.

CHERRY TWP — Bill McCarrier Sr. has been a high school physics teacher, company founder and Butler County commissioner.

Now he can add genealogist and author to his list of accomplishments.

On Wednesday, McCarrier, 80, presented Kathy Kline, director of the North Trails Public Library, 1553 W. Sunbury Road, with a copy of “Families and Homes of West Sunbury,” a book he has spent nearly five years researching and writing.

It's nothing less than the listing of every house in West Sunbury and a history of all their occupants.

McCarrier pored over old newspapers, deeds in county offices and old census data to compile his book. He also talked to many acquaintances and relations in their 90s to help fill in the gaps in the official historical record.

This is an excerpt from a story that appeared in Thursday's Butler Eagle.