March 10
CURIO Art Studio
CURIO Art Studio
113 S. Main St.
Zelienople, PA 16063
(724) 473-0223
Website
Like several of Butler County’s towns, Saxonburg began as a vision for a wholesome town offering a new life for German settlers.
Saxonburg was founded in 1832 by brothers Fredrich Carl and John Augustus Roebling. Their birthplace was Mühlhausen, in the Saxony area of Prussia (now Germany). Like other Europeans at the time, they immigrated to the “new land,” America. And their homeland inspired John Roebling to develop a town featuring the charm of a quaint German hamlet.
Saxonburg’s West Main Street, with the “Old White Church” at the head, is often described today as “Rockwellesque.’’ It retains much of its original character and features thirty-two buildings that are at their core more than 180 years old. A few buildings have displayed interior walls showing the original wood supports and the straw and mud or bricks used as insulation.
The Saxonburg Historic District, with Main Street as its nucleus, was named to the National Register of Historic Places. As you stroll along the bricked sidewalks lined with streetlights resembling gaslights and browse through the shops, do not miss the green Keystone-shaped plaques along the way that tell the historic significance of each structure.
Among the historic structures you will find John Roebling’s house still standing today and also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is used as a church office building today.
Other historic structures include an ornate building with interesting ornamental woodwork displayed on what was a doctor’s office building from the late 18oo’s as well as a building that was a general store from the mid-1830s with old large window displays and the painted name above the doorway. The descendants of the family that started that general store continued to operate the family business for more than 150 years, closing in 1989.
John Roebling’s contributions went much further than laying out an agricultural community with a town center. He invented a wire rope cable first used to raise canal boats over the Allegheny Mountains, and as a suspension bridge pioneer, ultimately designing the Brooklyn Bridge. Thus, Saxonburg, especially in the area of the town’s Roebling Park just off West Main Street, is truly “the birthplace of the wire rope cable industry in the United States.” Roebling’s workshop dating back to the late 1830’s is still standing in the park. It, too, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
John Roebling’s contributions went much further than laying out an agricultural community with a town center. He invented a wire rope cable first used to raise canal boats over the Allegheny Mountains, and as a suspension bridge pioneer, ultimately designing the Brooklyn Bridge. Thus, Saxonburg, especially in the area of the town’s Roebling Park just off West Main Street, is truly “the birthplace of the wire rope cable industry in the United States.” Roebling’s workshop dating back to the late 1830’s is still standing in the park. It, too, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The community hosts several events and festivals each year that bring thousands of visitors to its tree-lined streets. Besides the festivals, Saxonburg is All-American with an annual Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony. And, if you like parades, there are several annually including the Fireman’s and Pet Parades in the summer and the Holiday Day parade Thanksgiving weekend. If your visit to Butler County doesn’t coincide with one of the town’s special events, you’re always welcome to picnic in the park or sit a spell on a bench or stroll along the sidewalks along Main Street while admiring the preservation of a town that honors its history.
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