George, Martha Washington draw crowd at Butler County’s 150th anniversary parade
One of the biggest parties in the history of Butler County happened Saturday, July 8, 1950, when a massive crowd of about 50,000 jammed Butler’s Main Street to watch the sesquicentennial “Butlerama” parade and celebrate the 150th anniversary of Butler County’s founding in 1800.
The parade was the main event of the six-day “Butlerama” sesquicentennial pageant, which started July 3.
Hundreds of floats, vehicles and bands from across the county participated in the three-hour parade. One example which drew plenty of attention was a stagecoach carrying historical reenactors playing George and Martha Washington — played by Prospect resident Dean T. Barkley and his wife.
The stagecoach originally belonged to the Trees Hotel in Tarentum before it came into the possession of Hays Frampton. The horses pulling the stagecoach were owned by Leland Roenigk, father of recently-retired Buffalo Township supervisor Albert “Ouch” Roenigk. At the parade, the stagecoach float was sponsored by the Lauter/Faulkner American Legion Post in Saxonburg.
