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Butler County: A History of Manufacturing Excellence
Butler County has a long and distinguished history of manufacturing excellence. Imagination, inspiration and dedication to an idea, all characterize the qualities that have made Butler County, Pennsylvania a prime location for innovations to flourish. Here are just a few examples of the history of manufacturing in Butler County that continues as we head into the future of manufacturing.
Wire Rope & the Suspension Bridge
In 1841 John Roebling at his workshop in Saxonburg, developed and began producing wire rope, which consists of strands of wire wound around an inner core to produce a tightly strung strand of cable. Roebling used the strength of his innovation and applied it to bridge building. Despite former successes in earlier suspension bridges, his idea to build a single span suspension bridge across the East River in New York City, and thereby creating the largest bridge in the world at that time, was received with laughter and "expert" opinions that said the idea would never work.
John Roebling, with his son Washington worked out the problems and in 1867 were commissoned to build the Brooklyn Bridge. Not long into site surveys for the project, however, an onsite accident resulted in John Roebling developing tetanus, which lead to his death just weeks later. Washington was left to oversee the bridge completion, and personally oversaw and participated in the sinking of caisson foundations. However this repeated exposure to high underwater pressures resulted in Washington contracting decompression sickness in 1872. The illness left Washington disabled, bed ridden, and too weak to carry on long conversations.
People involved in the project feared the visionary bridge would never be built since the Roebling father/son team were the only ones who understood the engineering dynamics of the bridge. With an unwaivering dedication to complete the bridge his father had imagined, Washington and his loving wife Emily, refused to let his physical limitations stop him. Emily not only cared for and tended to her bedridden husband, she became instrumental in managing the bridge building work, recording and relaying to the foreman every minute detail for the bridge that Washington feabily dictated to her. Working as a team, they did this until the bridge was completed and officially dedicated in 1883.
Petroleum Manufacturers
The first paying oil well in the Butler-Clarion belt was obtained on the Allegheny River, at Parker's Landing, in the fall of 1868. Of the entire Butler County oil region, it was the land lying between Petrolia and Karns City which was the most productive. Oil production reached its maximum between 1872 and 1874. The area of most remarkable productiveness includes the Wilson, James Blaney, Jamison Daugherty, Patton, John Blaney, McCafferty, and McClymonds farms. The town of Petrolia was so named because that was what the oil regions were called at that time.
Tracing their roots back to the 1800s, Butler County Petroleum manufacturers, such as Sonneborn, and Pennreco have used petroleum and petroleum based materials in the production of many products used everyday. Sonneborns refinery in Petrolia, for example, pioneered the development of petrolatum, used in medical ointments from using materials that were previously thought unusable. Their next major development came as a result of World War I when, unable to secure white oil from offshore, their refinery became the first refiner of white oils in the United States.
The "Jeep" is Born in Butler County: 1940 Bantam Pilot Model
Built by the American Bantam Car Company in Butler, Pennsylvania, this was the first undisputed "Jeep." It was delivered to Camp Holabird, Maryland, on September 23, 1940. This first vehicle, from an order for 70 vehicles, "Old Number One" was tested and then spent the rest of its life as a demo vehicle. Later versions of the Jeep were used extensively by the U.S. military in World World II. The Jeep name has become not only a common household word, but a symbol of the rugged American spirit.
The RoboGrip Hand Tool
Conceived of and patented by William Warheit of Butler County in 1987, the RoboGrip pliers were also manufactured and assembled right here in Butler County. It quickly became one of the most successful hand tools in the history of Sears.
As we look towards the future of manufacturing we are excited to see incredible opportunities for continued innovation that affects the world in which we live. Through emerging technologies, we are able to create and improve products that we use everyday, thereby improving our quality of life. As members of the Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, we are proud to be a part of the tradition and the future of manufacturing excellence in Butler County.
