Butler Township

Drums, PA > Drums Groups & Organizations > Butler Township

address:415 West Butler Drive Drums, PA 18222 phone:570-788-3547 fax:570-788-5351 website:Butler Township email:

History of Butler Township:

Butler Township is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and is located in the southern part of Luzerne County. the Township encompasses 33.6 square miles.

Butler Township was settled in 1784 by John Balliet and incorporated into Butler Township from parts of Sugarloaf Township.

The American Indians passed through but did not settle in Butler Township. Living in semi-permanent villages, the Eastern Woodland Indians supplemented their agricultural diet by hunting and fishing. The preferred to locate on the fertile soil of the major rivers and floodplains. The shunned the ridge and valley domain, in which Butler Township is located, calling it Towanensing, the wilderness.

Wool was the major clothing fiber in the early days of the Republic. By the end of the nineteenth century, sufficient wool was being produced in the township to warrant the construction of a mill. In 1810, Phillip Drum established a wool processing mill along the Little Nescopeck near the settlement then known as Ashville. Today, however, the area is known as Fritzingertown

Most of the Butler pioneers spoke German, while English was spoken along the upper reaches of the Susquehanna.