Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, and John Roebling’s legacy are forever intertwined. John Roebling was a visionary engineer whose remarkable impact on Saxonburg cannot be overstated.
Born in Germany in 1806, Roebling immigrated to the United States and with his brother they purchased 1,582 acres of land in Butler County, of which about 600 acres makes up the Borough of Saxonburg today. They envisioned an agricultural community with a town center for commerce, although John Roebling had no agricultural experience. To populate the area, John Roebling would write back to friends and relatives in his homeland, inviting them to join he and his brother in building a town they first called “Germania.” As the town became populated with immigrants from the Saxony area of Prussia, now Germany, the town was renamed in German “Sachsenburg.” But in a few years, they changed the name to the English version the community is known today, “Saxonburg.”
John Roebling's expertise and passion for civil engineering and innovative spirit set him on the path to greatness and fueled his rise to prominence. He became well-known for his innovative design of suspension bridges using his unique twisted wire rope cable.
This led him to be known as the foremost designer and builder of suspension bridges in the nineteenth century, with the iconic Brooklyn Bridge in New York City being the most notable example of his work.
It was in Saxonburg that John Roebling began his quest to develop a wire rope cable that would be stronger, more flexible, and longer lasting than the popular hemp rope of the time. His wire rope, characterized by its strength and durability, quickly gained recognition and became highly sought after. The cable was assembled not by machinery but manpower. There was the “wire rope walk” where 8-to-16 men would hand twist the iron wire into cables ranging from 600 feet or hundreds of feet more.
For his innovation, Roebling was granted U.S. patent number 2720 for “Methods of Manufacture of Wire Rope” in July 1842. The first of many patents he received in his lifetime. Besides being used in building suspension bridges, the wire rope cable Roebling developed played a vital role in various industries, including mining, transportation, and construction.
It enabled the efficient movement of goods, the construction of aerial tramways, and the advancement of engineering projects across the region.
John Roebling's influence on Saxonburg was multifaceted. Through his engineering genius and entrepreneurial spirit, he elevated the town's reputation, transforming it into a center of innovation and progress. His wire rope cable manufacturing business brought economic prosperity and employment opportunities, while his philanthropic efforts enriched the community's quality of life. However, the demand for his unique cable became so great and means of transportation needed to be improved that Roebling bought land outside Trenton, New Jersey, and developed a factory there starting in 1849.
Interestingly, John Roebling never returned to Saxonburg after he left in 1949, although some of his descendants returned to the area over the decades.
Among the visiting descendants was Col. Washington Roebling, the first son of John and Johanna Roebling born in Saxonburg in May 1837. He lived in the Roebling house on Main Street until he was 12 years old when the family moved to New Jersey. And it was Col. Washington Roebling who with his wife Emily Warren Roebling, successfully oversaw the work so that John Roebling’s vision of the Brooklyn Bridge was completed.
This was because John Roebling died from a tragic accident while doing final survey work along the East River and never saw construction of the bridge which was dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world" upon its completion in 1883.
The bridge is renowned because of what has been described as groundbreaking engineering, being the world's longest suspension bridge at the time and the innovative use of cables, the first bridge using steel cables where iron wire was used up until that time.
Today, Saxonburg proudly celebrates John Roebling's legacy as a testament to his extraordinary contributions to the world and the town's history and development.
As part of that development, during your visit to Saxonburg you will see standing at the head of West Main Street the historic “Old White Church” that was built on land the Roebling brothers had donated. Construction of what was known for decades as the German Evangelical Protestant Church began in 1836. The first service was held in the church building in the fall of 1837, and services continue to be held in the church building to this day. Originally the church building did not have a steeple. The steeple and a bell were added in 1863. The four-sided clock was added in 1920. Besides donating land for the church, the Roebling brothers donated land for the first school and cemetery. The school was on the land that is now the Borough of Saxonburg Municipal Center on the western part of Main Street. And around the corner along Butler Road, there is the Saxonburg Memorial Church Cemetery which started on land that the Roebling brothers had donated for a cemetery in April 1836. A walk though the older portion of the cemetery will reveal the gravestones with German names of some of the town’s original settlers, including Carl Roebling who died of heat stroke working the family wheat fields in the summer of 1837. His daughter, Amelia Roebling Knoch, is also buried in the cemetery. She was born the same year her father died. Amelia Roebling Knoch died in 1933 and was the last direct descendant of the Roebling family to live in Saxonburg. Her descendants donated a portion of the Knoch family farm for the development of Knoch High School in the 1950s.
Fostered by the town's founders, Fredrich Carl and John Augustus Roebling, being raised in Mühlhausen, Germany, Saxonburg has a "Sister City" partnership with Mühlhausen. The unique relationship is due to a shared history tied to the Roebling legacy and has resulted in cultural exchanges between the two communities.
Saxonburg
Like several of Butler County’s towns, Saxonburg began as a vision for a wholesome town offering a new life for German settlers.
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