Businessman of old pioneers an industry
A short street in the city that runs between West Wayne and West Diamond streets commemorates the son of French immigrants who pioneered the floral industry in Butler.
Krut Street is named for Anton Krut, who was born on the family farm in Daugherty Township, Beaver County, during the Civil War as one of the 10 children of French immigrants Antone and Mary Krut.
While his father had established a successful wagon manufacturing business in Pittsburgh, the young Anton did not share his brothers' interest in the family craft.
According to “History of Butler County,” Krut “had always been a lover of flowers and growing things, so he entered upon an apprenticeship to a florist and during three years of practical experience, acquired a knowledge of the business.”
After opening a greenhouse and establishing a florist business in Pittsburgh, Krut and his wife, the former Mary Joyce, sold the business in 1898, due to Anton's failing health from living in the then-smoky city.
The couple moved to Butler and bought land on Hazel Avenue in the Island section of Butler that is now the home of the Butler Eagle Production Center, where they added to “the old Bortamas greenhouses” to grow the stock for Anton Krut Florist on East Jefferson Street.
“ ... the clean, invigorating air has entirely restored him to normal health,” according to “History of Butler County.”
The book notes that the couple created “25,000 feet of glass and cultivates six acres of ground. (Krut) deals exclusively in cut flowers and does all kinds of fine floral work.”
Krut moved his store to 313 S. Main St. in 1905, according to multiple ads in the Butler Eagle's digital archives. Krut apparently wanted to make sure his loyal customers knew he had moved to the new location “opposite the big bank building” on Main Street, as the ad ran in several issues of the Eagle over the course of a year.In 1906, the Kruts bought “a fine store building at No. 328 South Main Street, where he attends to business.”Jim Teapole of New Brighton, Beaver County, researched the Krut family, as Anton Krut's father was his great-uncle.While his family history focused on Charles Krut, Teapole's great-grandfather, inevitable information surfaced regarding Antone Krut, the florist's father.Teapole found that the elder Krut, who emigrated from the French/German border in 1849 due to unrest between those two countries, was the director of the German Savings & Deposit Bank on Pittsburgh's South Side for 10 years prior to his April 1903 death.According to Teapole's research, a list of resolutions adopted by Antone Krut's fellow bank directors a couple of days after his death was presented to his family, friends and the community. The documents detailed the elder Krut's integrity, truthfulness and all-around good character.“I'm sure those disciplines were also in the children,” Teapole said.The younger Krut and his wife operated the greenhouse and florist shop for 41 years, during which time Anton became one of 13 florists from across the U.S. who in 1910 formed FTD, which at that time stood for Florists' Telegraph Delivery.FTD allowed customers to send flowers anywhere in the world for more than a century until declaring bankruptcy in June 2019, when the company had about 872 full-time, part-time, hourly and salaried workers in North America.FTD, now Florists' Transworld Delivery, continues to operate and hired a new CEO in March.Anton Krut, after more than 50 years in the floral business, suffered a stroke in 1939, and died on July 21 of that year.His Butler Eagle obituary states that he was a member of St. Paul Catholic Church and that he was a pioneer in the florist business in Butler and throughout the country.Krut was “keenly interested in civic and political affairs in the city, but never held public office,” his obituary states.His viewing was held at his home on Hazel Avenue, where he lived with his wife and continued to live after her death two years earlier.Krut is buried at Calvary Cemetery on North Main Street Extension beneath a headstone lovingly marked “Father.”His only child, Margaret McGuire, and her husband, C. Hugh McGuire, apparently continued to operate the florist shop until it was closed Oct. 31, 1964, as a result of the settlement of Margaret's estate.Today, many florists remain in Butler, and all should take a drive down Krut Street as a thank you to the pioneer of their industry in Butler.
