Saxonburg Borough maintains its original character as it celebrates the 185th anniversary of its founding by John August Roebling and his older brother Charles F. Roebling, more commonly known as Carl.

The Roebling brothers were immigrant colonists from Mühlhausen, Germany.

In 1831, they purchased, for $1.25 an acre, 1,582 acres to offer a new life for Germans in America.

On a portion of their land in 1832, the Roeblings laid out the town of Saxonburg, named for the German state of Saxony.

It began as their vision for a wholesome town for German settlers.

Parcels were sold to families from Mühlhausen who ventured to Saxonburg for a new life.

As the waves of immigrants came during several decades in the mid-1800s, the Germans settled in Saxonburg to establish a center of commerce and farming.

In fact, the town’s streets are laid out as they were by John Roebling. At the heart of the town is the iconic Main Street with bustling activity of commerce and hospitality.

Main Street maintains much of its original character. The street features 32 buildings that are more than 100 years old and was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Today the Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church stands at the highest point in town at the head of Main Street, just as John Roebling designated when he built the church in 1837.

To what does Saxonburg owe the Roeblings as the reason for their emigration from Germany?

John Roebling’s “restless mind and spirit” and education in architecture and engineering resulted in more than a desire to leave Germany. His talent led him to make a significant mark on Saxonburg and the world.

The History of Butler County provides background on the genius of John August Roebling as an inventor and engineer.

“Before coming to America he had made a thorough study of bridge architecture and construction, and had submitted plans for a suspension bridge across Buhr river to some of the leading engineers of Prussia.

“Suspension bridges had been previously planned and constructed, but had proven failures. His plans, looking to the substitution of wire rope or cable for the chain cable, were regarded as chimerical and impracticable.

“His faith in the practicality of the wire cable did not desert him, and with the pertinacity of one believing in himself he kept turning the idea over in his mind until he evolved a scientific wire rope or cable, for which he secured a patent in 1842.

“These he began to manufacture at his home in Saxonburg ... . His first cable stood the test of practical use in the Sharpsburg ferry.

“He next secured a contract from the state board of public work for their use on the canals and inclined planes. He then began the construction of those great works which stand today as monuments to his inventive genius and engineering skill, and which brought about a revolution in bridge building.”

On July 16, 1842, John Roebling was granted U.S. Patent No. 2720 for his method of and machine for manufacturing wire ropes.

He essentially developed a viable method of twisting iron wire cables. This year marks the 175th anniversary of that significant contribution to bridge building and to transportation worldwide.

Preserved for the ages in Roebling Park is the structure that John Roebling used as his wire rope workshop where he refined his patented cable process.

Roebling utilized machinery of his own design. He first manufactured wire rope along a “rope walk” in a wooded area on the eastern side of town that extended from his workshop to behind the church at the head of Main Street.

The Roebling years in Saxonburg ended in 1849 when he moved to Trenton, N.J., to build a large manufacturing plant to expand the wire rope process.

But the history of the Roeblings in Saxonburg is not complete without referencing his marriage in 1836 to Johanna Herting, the daughter of a tailor who emigrated from Mühlhausen.

Six children were born to the Roeblings during their time in Saxonburg.

One of their sons was born in 1837 and baptized Washington Augustus Roebling. He lived in Saxonburg for the first 12 years of his life.

Washington Roebling enlisted in the New Jersey militia at the outbreak of the Civil War. He left the service with the rank of colonel.

Col. Roebling’s place in history includes his role in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. His father, John, injured his foot during the early construction of the bridge.

That injury led to lockjaw. John Roebling died in 1869, never seeing his grand bridge completed. But it was Col. Roebling who stepped in to become the chief and supervised the completion of the bridge.

Fred Caesar president of the Friends of Saxonburg Museum and a board member for the Saxonburg Historical Restoration Commission. He wrote this article for the July edition of Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs’ Magazine, and it is reprinted here with the association’s permission.