Butler

Formed March 12, 1800 (32^nd county)

Butler County (193,676), Butler (13,491)                

The excellent stone High Victorian Gothic courthouse was constructed in 1885 and enlarged in 1908.  The courthouse is in a square at Jackson, Main and Diamond streets.  Main Street is Pennsylvania State Highway 8 in the town.  James P. Bailey is the architect.  A Government Center was added in 1991.  Butler County was created on March 12, 1800 from Allegheny County as the 32^nd county with Butler as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for American Revolutionary General Richard Butler. 

Butler County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five Common Pleas Court Judges and Seven Magistrate Court Judges serve Butler County (judicial.)  The county is in the western part of Pennsylvania.  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is directly southwest and Erie, Pennsylvania is northwest of the county.  The county center is 6.1 miles Northeast of Butler nearer East Butler.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Venango, Clarion, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence, and Mercer counties. 

The area of the county is 795 square miles.  It is 25 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 19 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 243.7 persons per square mile making it 21 out of 67 in the state.  Butler County has 18.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 76 clips the southwest corner of the county from Beaver County, west, to Allegheny County, south.  Interstate Highway 79 passes north to south from Lawrence County to Allegheny County.  Interstate Highway 80 cuts the northeast corner from Clarion County, northeast, to Venango County, north.  United States Highway 19 parallels Interstate Highway 79 from Lawrence to Allegheny counties.  United States Highway 422 comes from the east, Armstrong County, and goes to the west, Lawrence County.  Butler County is a rectangle is the northwest corner sliced off.  The City of Butler is in the southern third of the county.  Butler is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 7.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area.