Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation Plan - Western ...

Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation PlanChapter 5. Cultural ResourcesDespite the set back the Bantam Car Company continued development with the introduction of theReconnaissance car, an all-purpose military vehicle. This vehicle was the first jeep invented, and is the1ancestor of four-wheeled drive vehicles (Butler County Historical Society ).EducationMany pioneer settlers had limited education and wanted more for their children. The first schoolswere subscription schools, which required fees for students to attend. In 1790, a school law was passedrelating to subscription schools, increasing the number of schools.Passing of the Schools Act in 1802, lead to theorganization of the first public school in 1804. In 1805, thefirst schoolhouse was built in Adams Township. Early schoolbuildings were constructed from logs, similar to early homes.In 1810, The Butler Academy was the first building erectedfor the sole purpose of education in Butler.In 1821, Johnson McKnight, a local farmer, became thefirst teacher from Muddy Creek Township. Denied entranceto the school because of his gender, he returned home,borrowed his wife’s clothes, then returned to the school andLittle red schoolhouse historical site inwas granted admission (History of Butler County, 1883c).Butler is an eligible property for listingin the national registryIn 1834, the Common Schools Act was passed toestablish a general system of education. There was a great deal of resistance to the new act. The newsystem provided free education for all students at a cost to landowners in the form of taxes. By 1854,much of the resistance within Butler County had subsided, and there were 175 school buildings. The newscho ols evolved from the original log cabin structures; with better buildings, better teachers, and a bettersystem of instruction (History of Butler County, 1895a).Important PeopleGeneral Richard Butler, Butler County’s namesake, was a Revolutionary War hero. He was a friendof G eorge Washington and Marquis de Lafayette. In 1800, when Allegheny County was divided intoeight counties, the county directly north was named in his memory.Barbara (Hall) Feldon, known as Agent 99 from the television show “Get Smart,” had lived in ButlerCounty as a child.United States Senator Walter Lowrie, from Butler, served from 1812 to 1818. He was electedSecretary of the Senate in 1819, an office he maintained until 1836.George Rapp, a German weaver and vine tender, founded the Harmonie Society and the townHarmony.John Roebling, founded Saxonburg and devised a technique to use wire ropes as a safetyimprovement for inclined planes, and later adapted the use for suspension bridges. This adaptation madeit possible for the Brooklyn Bridge and others to cross previously unspanable waters.In 1895, Ralph C. Stiefel, a Swiss-born engineer, invented a rotary piercing process used in makingsteel tubing. In addition, he helped establish the Ellwood Weldless Tube Co., which later became the coreof the National Tube Division of U.S. Steel.of5-18