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BHistory
History · Butler Township

29% of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #628 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: 8 old photos and papers and maps from 1889 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Butler Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Butler Township’s history

How historic is Butler Township?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Butler Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Butler Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #628 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Butler Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194029.1% of homes (±10.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 39%

Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Butler Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.5 points).

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Butler Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Butler Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1976. Watch Butler Township change.Old housesHalf of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fountain Springs
1831–1858
Colorado
1873–1877
Locustdale
1878–today
Lavelle
1881–today
Fountain Springs
1889–1917
Mowry
1898–1973
Connerton
1901–1963
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big Mine RunConnertonEnglewoodFountain SpringsLavelleMowry
1cemetery inside Butler Township
Christ Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Butler Township on the map, 1889 to 1976

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butler Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Butler Township on the 1889 USGS mapButler Township on the 1892 USGS mapButler Township on the 1947 USGS mapButler Township on the 1953 USGS mapButler Township on the 1969 USGS mapButler Township on the 1976 USGS map1889Catawissa sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Butler Township.

The story so far

Butler Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Butler Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Butler Township is a township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. Formed in 1848 from part of Barry Township, it is named for war hero William Orlando Butler.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,224 to 4,906 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Butler Township, 1831 to 1911

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Fountain Springs post office opens
  3. 1858Post officeThe Fountain Springs post office closes
  4. 1873Post officeThe Colorado post office opens
  5. 1877Post officeThe Colorado post office closes
  6. 1878Post officeThe Locustdale post office opens
  7. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905In the archiveHigh School
  10. 1911In the archiveThe Diamond
By decade

Butler Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
High School1905High SchoolCourt House1905Court HouseMain Street1905Main StreetSecond Presbyterian Church1905Second Presbyterian ChurchFirst M.E. Church1905First M.E. ChurchDiamond Park and Soldiers Monument1905Diamond Park and Soldiers Monument
1910s2 items
The Diamond1911The DiamondNew Y.M.C.A. building1913New Y.M.C.A. building
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 032015Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 03Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 022015Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 02Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 012015Coal Mining in Butler Twp, Schuylkill Co PA 01Map of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Highlighting Butler Township2008Map of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Highlighting B…Map
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

High School
Retake this viewHigh School, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Butler Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Butler Township

Nobody well known was born in Butler Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gary S. BeckerAmerican economist · b. 1930
Tommy DorseyAmerican big band leader and musician · b. 1905
John O'HaraAmerican journalist and writer · b. 1905
Jimmy DorseyAmerican clarinetist, alto saxophonist, bandlea… · b. 1904
E
Ellen Albertini DowAmerican actress · b. 1913
J
Janet AsimovAuthor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst · b. 1926
Help out

Finish Butler Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHigh School: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Eldred TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBarry TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshland1 historic placeAEnglewoodIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWest Mahanoy TownshipIts storyB+Conyngham TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGilbertonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Cameron TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCass TownshipIts storyB+FrackvilleIts storyB

Questions about Butler Township’s history

How does Butler Township rank for history?

Butler Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #628 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Butler Township?

29% of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1963.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (8), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.