Lafayette Trail marker unveiled in Butler
With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the horizon, communities are revisiting the history made in their own backyards.
The French Gen. Marquis de Lafayette, regarded as a hero of the American Revolution, was invited for a grand tour of the nation in 1825. During his tour, one of Lafayette’s stops was in Butler, where he was received warmly by a dazzled crowd.
More than 200 years later, Butler County commissioners commemorated the day of the Frenchman’s visit with a trail marker, which was unveiled at the Butler County Government Center’s public meeting room on Wednesday, May 20.
The date of unveiling is also special. Lafayette passed away on May 20, 1834.
The event kicked off with a presentation from Julien Icher, founder and president of The Lafayette Trail, a nonprofit organization he created in 2019 to celebrate Lafayette’s legacy in the United States and France.
The organization also donated the marker to Butler County, with funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
The red, white, and blue in the marker is meant to represent the French aristocrat and major general’s contributions to the American and French revolutions.
Icher said the tricolor structure “tells a story of transatlantic work for freedom, and Lafayette’s role mediating between our two cultures.
Icher’s presentation about local history of Lafayette coming through Butler County was followed by remarks from county officials, the unveiling of the marker and subsequent meet and greet with the officials for public attendees.
Several public officials were present at the ceremony, including Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy; U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4th; state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th; state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st; Edward Mauk, executive director of Butler County Housing and Redevelopment Authority; Charles Nedz, chief public defender; Diane Marburger, county treasurer; historian Bill May; Jordan Grady, president of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce; and Butler County Commissioners Kevin Boozel and Kim Geyer.
The new trail marker makes Butler County the 225th recipient of the sign across 25 states, according to Icher.
Sporadic rainfall, which had forced the events indoors, delayed the setting of marker. The unveiling was originally supposed to take place on the front lawn of the Butler County Courthouse.
Boozel said the event was, in essence, about remembering American history, principles, and commitment to the American people.
“One of the things why local history is important is that it gives us an identity to our roots, and where we’ve been as a county, and it gives us a sense of being,” Geyer said.
Butler during the general’s visit was not the city it is today, Dandoy said; it was smaller and rougher around the edges.
“But that’s exactly the point,” he said. “Lafayette didn’t just visit capitals and centers of power. He visited places where the real work of democracy was happening.”
Dandoy added that the marker is a reminder of not just what the U.S. is, but what it is meant to be.
“On the surface, (the visit) may sound like a small historical footnote,” Dandoy said. “But history is never really about the plaque. It's about values, about whether the people here today still believe in the same improbable ideas that caused a 19-year-old aristocrat from France to look across the ocean and say, ‘that’s worth fighting for.’”
