Marker on the Lafayette building in downtown Butler.

As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches, there have been more and more commemorations of the area’s connection to our nation’s founding.

On Sunday, June 1, the General Richard Butler Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, along with officials and members of the public, gathered in downtown Butler to mark the 200th anniversary of a visit by an icon of not one, but two revolutions: the Marquis de Lafayette. The ceremony included a rededication of a marker noting his visit.

Lafayette had joined the American Revolution when he was just 19 and became a close companion of Gen. George Washington and a hero in the eyes of the public.

After his return to France, he was swept up in the French Revolution, but was imprisoned for years after falling out of favor with Revolutionary leaders and the public.

But in 1824, he returned to a nation that was 50 years old and toured a much larger area than the original 13 colonies. He arrived in Butler to a warm welcome, including from a soldier who said he’d served with Lafayette at the Battle of Brandywine.

The marker is a reminder of the deep history we have in the area. As Martha Eberhardt, who organized the rededication, many residents today are descended from people who greeted Lafayette.

“Lafayette was here 200 years ago and we had soldiers in the community,” Eberhardt said. “Obviously, we have descendants of those soldiers now in the community.”

It’s important to remember those connections to our history, and events like the rededication are an important way to foster that connection.

— JK