Butler, Pennsylvania
| Butler, Pennsylvania | |
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| City | |
View of Butler from the Southside neighborhood
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 Location in Butler County |
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 Butler
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| Coordinates: 40°51′38″N 79°53′41″W / 40.86056°N 79.89472°WCoordinates: 40°51′38″N 79°53′41″W / 40.86056°N 79.89472°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Butler |
| Settled | 1802 |
| Incorporated (borough) | 1816 |
| Incorporated (city); | 1918 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor-Council |
| • Mayor | Thomas P. Donaldson (R) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km2) |
| • Land | 2.7 sq mi (7.0 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 13,757 |
| • Density | 5,060/sq mi (1,953.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Zip code | 16001, 16002, 16003 |
| Area code(s) | 724 |
| Website | cityofbutler |
Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located 35 miles (56 km) north of Pittsburgh and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,757. Butler was named the 7th best small town in America by Smithsonian magazine in May 2012.
Butler was named for Maj. Gen. Richard Butler, who fell at the Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's Defeat, in western Ohio in 1791.
In 1803 John and Samuel Cunningham became the first settlers in the village of Butler. After settling in Butler, the two brothers laid out the community by drawing up plots of land for more incoming settlers. By 1817, the community was incorporated into a borough. The first settlers were of Irish or Scottish descent and were driving westward from Connecticut. In 1802 the German immigrants began arriving, with Detmar Basse settling in Jackson Township in 1802 and founding Zelienople the following year. After George Rapp arrived in 1805 and founded Harmony, larger numbers of settlers followed. John A. Roebling settled Saxonburg in 1832, by which time most of the county was filled with German settlers.
Throughout most of its history, the city of Butler has been a major manufacturing and industrial center. In 1902, the Standard Steel Car Company opened one of its largest railcar manufacturing facilities in Butler. It was here that some of the first all-steel rail cars were built. Diamond Jim Brady, the legendary financier, gourmand and gemophile, got his start here in 1902 when he established the Standard Steel Car Company, which merged with the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1934 to create Pullman-Standard, a monopoly that was eventually broken by the government.
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