Butler historical society’s walking tour commemorates decade of murals celebrating history
A decade ago, the Butler County Historical Society commissioned a series of murals that brought the history of the region to life in the city of Butler.
On Saturday, Sept. 19, a walking tour highlighted the stories behind 10 murals, which were painted by the Walldogs.
Those telling stories included Jen Hundertmark, a site manager for the Diners and Drive-Ins mural on a South McKean Street building, whose name was immortalized on the mural when the other painters put it on the name tag of the subject.
She said the memory of being part of the project in 2016 is even better than the name tag homage.
“It was a very festive time down here. Everybody was involved in some way or another,” Hundertmark said. “I just think it encourages people to learn about their community, get involved, and (it) beautifies our town.”
She explained how every person in 2016 who touched a paint-tinged brush to a wall in Butler became part of an international organization known as the Walldogs.
Saturday’s tour took two groups on a trek through the city, stopping for each location. The murals depict people such as General Richard Butler — the namesake of the city and county whose likeness can be found on a wall on West Diamond Street — and technology like the Bantam — the original vehicle prototype created for the U.S. military for World War II, which is depicted on a wall on West New Castle Street.
Mackenzie Herold, executive director of the Butler County Historical Society and one of the tour guides, said the tour was meant to remind people of what took place in 2016 when the Walldogs came to town, but also introduce people to the murals themselves.
She commented that some people may not even know where all 10 murals are, or that they are all connected to the same project.
The tour also opened an opportunity for Herold to discuss what each mural depicted, from the Pullman Standard factory to the Butler Brewing Company, which are both the subjects of their own murals.
“Art and history have always had a connection, and Butler County has such a wide range of topics in history,” Herold said.
Herold said she is in talks with the Walldogs for a potential future project in Butler.
Jill Welsh, an original Walldog artist from Mars, was stationed on West Diamond Street near the General Richard Butler mural and the Armco mural color walls.
After showing tourists the kind of brushes the Walldogs used to spread paint over the bricks, Welsh explained how she and her fellow artists transcribed page-sized reference paintings onto an entire wall. It was accompanied by a short talk from Herold, who relayed General Richard Butler’s life story.
Welsh also painted the Sprite Boy Coke mural on a wall on North McKean Street, which features a “ghost painting” of Cassie Seth, who was stationed at that mural wearing the exact clothes that the painting depicts her in. Herold said that even though the brightly-colored Sprite Boy Coke mural is the same age as the one to its left, which looks faded, the image is intentional to call back to old murals that really have faded from Butler walls.
The parallel murals also list the names of Butler sign painters from the 1880s to the 2010s on a banner near their bottoms.
Audrey Eberle and her son, David Eberle, waited at the Butler mail delivery mural on West North Street. David Eberle said that although the murals were coordinated by experienced artists, a lot of the paint was placed on them by everyday people who were interested in making a mark.
“These were made by ordinary people who just happened to love a thing enough,” he said. “You would grab a brush and a cup of paint and you would go put this on the walls of your own town, and it was amazing.”
The tour began and concluded at the Walter Lowrie House on West Diamond Street, where Herold and the painters stationed along the route convened to answer questions. The tour was received well by several people who attended.
“I just think it’s really neat to be on the streets, and I can see all the parts of the history of Butler,” said Dottie DeSantis of Butler Township.
Marsha Howard of Butler Township agreed and said she learned about the tour at an event at Preston Park.
“I didn’t realize there were so many,” she said.
