Butler Walkabout

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(Editor's note: This feature was originally published on gribblenation.org on December 31, 2011. Feature moved and updated to Quintessential Pennsylvania.)


Butler is a unique town of 15,000 located about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. It is the county seat of Butler County. The County Courthouse (shown below) was built in 1885 and is still in use today.


One of the more unique buildings in Bulter is the Butler County Motor Company Ford Dealership.  The dealership's building was constructed in 1918 and has been owned and operated by the Cramer/Glasgow family since 1926.


This is the first time I had seen an automotive dealer be housed in a multi-story building like this. The Butler County Motor Company (aka Butler County Ford) has been around since 1918 and was one of the first Ford automotive dealerships authorized by Henry Ford.

Walking down Main Street in Butler - there are numerous great older buildings, storefronts, and ghost signs.





One of the buildings that caught my eye at the end was the home of the Penn Theater. Even though looking up the theatre online says that it is being renovated, it looks in pretty bad shape, many of the articles featuring the theatre date to 2005, and the theatre looks a lot better then.



The theatre was built in 1938, showed its last film in 1991, and was sold in 2001. Currently, the Butler Penn Theater Community Trust and Penn Theater Performance Company hope to renovate the theater; however, the last information I found was a presentation from 2009. I certainly hope that this theater can be renovated and that various events - small, large, local, and otherwise can occur there.



Finally, it was a cold day with some snow flurries that briefly fell through the air. My wife and I stopped at a Downtown Butler tradition, Cummings Candy and Coffee Shop to warm up and get something to eat.



The Cummings family has owned and operated the shop since 1905 - making it the oldest family-owned business in Butler! Inside definitely has an old fashioned soda shop feel, and it's a great place to have some coffee or tea or a quick snack.



There's a lot more to Butler than the quick 30 or so minute walk that Friday before Christmas. It was certainly worth the drive to check out for the first time.


All photos were taken by post author - December 23, 2011.

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Update Log:
  • First Published December 31, 2011
  • Moved to Quintessential PA and minor updates - December 19, 2020

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