SAXONBURG — The canopy of clouds did not deter folks from coming out to one or all 10 sites that were recounting the past on Saturday during Butler County History Day.

The county Tourism & Convention Bureau event invited the history-curious to pick up a passport at any of the 10 historical sites offering tours and demonstrations or displaying artifacts. All passports stamped at three or more sites were entered into a drawing for a history-themed prize.

Sites that welcomed visitors were Historic Harmony, Weavers’ Cabin of Harmony, Mars Area Historical and Landmark Society, Sen. Walter Lowrie House in Butler, Evans City Historical Society, Buhl and Passavant Houses in Zelienople, Washington’s Trail 1753, Antique Automobile Club of America’s Butler chapter, Foltz Schoolhouse at Jennings Environmental Education Center, and the Saxonburg Museum.

All 10 sites were open free on History Day, which was held for the third consecutive year

Visitors to the latter venue could get a bite to eat, buy a raffle ticket, or indulge in a sweet treat outside, then enjoy the thousands of artifacts on display inside.

Molly Nowakowski donned a very fancy period dress and wig to portray Emily Roebling, the daughter-in-law of John Roebling, who founded Saxonburg with his brother, Karl.

Emily was married to John Roebling’s son, Washington, who took up his father’s mantle and completed oversight of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after John became ill and died from a foot injury on the job.

“She was a hidden secret,” Nowakowski said. “She was a mathematical genius.”

Many say Emily, not Washington, was the key figure in overseeing the construction of the bridge made possible by her father-in-law’s creation of wire rope in Saxonburg.

“Given the experience of being a woman in that time, for her to have excelled is utterly amazing,” Nowakowski said.

She said Emily Roebling took up the project after Washington was paralyzed and largely disabled from a case of the bends he suffered while working in the compressed air in a caisson under the river during the bridge’s construction.

Nowakowski discussed Emily Roebling while portraying the brilliant historical figure at the museum.

In honor of Emily Roebling, each woman who entered the museum received a rose.

“We just wanted to honor her,” she said.

Nowakowski said visitors also were encouraged to take a self-guided tour of Saxonburg to not only view the historical buildings, but to shop at the borough’s businesses, which are more than 90% women-owned.

Brad and Casey Sarvey, who recently moved to a home near the museum, perused the themed rooms and general artifacts displayed.

“This is a good reason to come to the museum,” Brad Sarvey said of History Day. “We’ve never been inside.”

Casey Sarvey said the museum looks small from the outside but is filled with amazing artifacts from the area.

“They did a fantastic job staging it,” she said. “There is actually a lot more to see than I thought there was going to be.”

Brad Sarvey marveled at the woolen uniforms of old-time sports teams, which seemed to represent every neighborhood in the county.

“Winfield, Callery and Cabot all had their own baseball teams,” he said. “Every little neighborhood got together to play.”

Gretchen Piper, of Saxonburg, brought her son, Andrew, 12, to visit the museum on History Day.

“I was driving by and saw it was open,” she said, “and Andrew loves cars.”

The pristine and historic Studebaker and Plymouth inside the museum immediately grabbed the lad’s attention.

“I walked right past everything else,” Andrew said. “I like Plymouths, because they made a very cool car in the 1970s called the Superbird.”

After carefully checking out the cars, the Pipers did inspect the rest of the artifacts.

Andrew was fascinated by the tools on display in the car and cabinetmaking sections.

“It’s a good family outing and we learned lots about our local history,” Gretchen Piper said.

Adrianna Afshari, president of Friends of the Saxonburg Museum, said while she and the new members of the group will try their level best, they know they can never meet the passionate oversight of longtime museum curator and former president, Fred Caesar, who recently retired after many years of caring for Saxonburg’s history.

“There is such a wealth of history in Saxonburg,” Afshari said. “The Roebling wire rope story is such an important piece of not only U.S. history, but world history.”

Also present at the Saxonburg Museum on Saturday was Brooke Wamsley, the granddaughter of Ralph Henderson, who built the replica of the Brooklyn Bridge between the wire rope shop and the pavilion.

The replica must come down, as it is damaging the wire rope shop.

“We’re going to take it down piece by piece, save what we can, and rebuild it,” Wamsley said.

She said a fundraising campaign to save the replica will kick off this summer.

“I wanted to do what I can to save it,” Wamsley said. “I want to carry on the legacy of my grandfather and others who found the history of Saxonburg so important back then.”