Historian Bill May draws impressive crowd for historic mansions of Butler tour
What could have easily been mistaken as some sort of mini-parade on North McKeen Street on Saturday evening, June 1 was actually another of local historian Bill May’s fact-and-fun filled tours.
More than 60 curious residents joined May for his Historic Mansions of Butler Walking Tour on Saturday, June 1 for a nearly 2-hour and mile-long trip that showcased some of Butler’s most storied homes. Mixing in his usual information-filled monologue with interesting, funny and sometimes even disturbing anecdotes May was able to captivate his audience with the stories of some of Butler’s most historically affluent characters.
“I want people to get a sense of their community and the people who built it and be entertained,” May said. “It’s not your high school history class.”
Referred to as a “local treasure” by several audience members, May’s unique and compelling storytelling is one of the reasons Butler resident Ed Weber is drawn to May’s events.
“I haven’t missed one of his presentations in about five years,” Weber said. “I go to everything he does. I’ve even gone to a bunch of them multiple times and always adds some little twist or a new story.”
Participants stopped at more than 20 homes along North McKean, East Fulton and East Pearl streets and included the entrance way to the famous Elm Court, the former residence of Benjamin D. Phillips, the son of T.W. Phillips, who was the founder of the T.W. Phillips Gas & Oil Co.
“This incredibly beautifully English Gothic Mansion has 40 rooms on the nine original acres,” Mays told the group. “(Phillips) had elm and maples trees transplanted from other places in the area to fill the landscape, and that’s why it’s called Elm Court — because of the elm trees that he had brought in.”
The 9.4-acre hillside mansion, constructed in 1929 and 1930 by Harry Wimer and designed by Benno Janssen, is home to the famous Skinner Organ, Opus 783, which was refurbished in 1990.
Frederick Koch purchased the mansion for $1 million in 1998.
The tour, which ended on the steps of May’s own home, allowed the local historian to boast about the unique and interesting area he grew up in.
“I wanted to show pride in Butler,” he said.
Dana Williams, of Renfrew said May’s tour was a delightful way to spend a Saturday evening and appreciated May’s ability to intertwine the past with the present.
“We’ve been on a few of his tours before and we really loved learning about the history of where we are living,” said Williams. “And I also really like the spin he puts on the tour of bringing community together and how he brings back community into people’s minds.”
To find out when May’s next tour is you can visit his Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/32vf3xcn.
