Experiencing Butler County history
Twelve historical sites teamed up for Experience Butler County’s History Day on Saturday, June 21, showing the rural countryside can shape as much history as the big city.
Although most participating historical sites were concentrated in Zelienople and Harmony, the sites spread from Brady Township in the north to Cranberry Township and Mars in the south, providing close locations for all county residents.
The Butler County Historical Society’s Little Red Schoolhouse exhibit showed visitors what learning in Butler’s first schools was like. The school was the first to open to the public in the city and served students from 1828 to 1874, according to Experience Butler County.
The schoolhouse desks were donated from schoolhouses around the county, and books and supplies were donated from various organizations and libraries.
The schoolhouse included textbooks from classes students would have taken in the 1800s like Latin, Greek and penmanship. The textbooks also showed what hasn’t changed. Similar to how today’s students might add a celebrity name like Snoop Dogg inside the front cover as a joke, these books included names like Babe Ruth.
In Zelienople, the Passavant House offered a glimpse into the origins of the town, what’s now-UPMC Passavant Hospital and the food settlers grew and ate. The house also shows how architecture may have changed over a short period, with the house built in phases. The first phase was built by Charles Passavant, and the second was built by his children.
The Cranberry Township Historical Society, Evans City Historical Society, Zelienople Historical Society and Historic Harmony all provided stops for History Day. Participating locations also included the Butler chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America, the Sample Schoolhouse in Cranberry Township, the Harmony Museum, the Jennings Environmental Education Center’s Foltz School, Mars Area History & Landmark Society, Saxonburg Museum, Washington’s Trail — 1753, the Weaver’s Cabin of Harmony and the Buhl House in Zelienople.
