Paving the road ahead, remembering legacy in rural northwestern Butler County
Harrisville’s Mayor Dan Anschutz wants to see more young families settle in the borough.
Young people may decide to settle or travel to northwest Butler County for a variety of different reasons, with Slippery Rock University and manufacturing companies nearby, and rural recreation amply available.
Anschutz moved to Harrisville from Parker with his wife, April, over 10 years ago, drawn to the small town’s lower-priced starter homes. Sixteen years and two children later, he said he wants to see others set up roots in the area.
The region’s seclusion from city living, coupled with its proximity from Routes 8, 38 and 308 also puts it at an advantage for people who prefer small, rural to semirural communities. Residents can enjoy the perks of country living while commuting to work in industries like Iron Mountain and Allegheny Mineral Corporation, or to businesses in Grove City and Slippery Rock.
According to Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer, 29.34% of farmland preservations are within Butler County’s northwest sector. Average earnings are at $44,475.
“The nice thing is that we are so close to multiple different areas, but we’re still able to have that … small town feel,” Anschutz said.
“The two school districts in this region (Slippery Rock and Moniteau) offer unique opportunities for students to succeed in more personalized classrooms in beautiful rural settings, but with unique opportunities to connect to (Slippery Rock University) and the community,” said Leslie Osche, county commissioners chairwoman.
She said many of these municipalities have added to or enhanced their community parks and the county’s recent investments in water and sewer systems will improve property values and attract new residents.
“All of these enhancements will contribute to new small business opportunities, and we anticipate the development of industrial parks in this region along with the broadband expansion planned by Armstrong,” she said.
The only commercial business in Harrisville is Sheetz, Anschutz said.
Mom and pop shops are staples in town, with Henry’s Meat Market, Willie’s Smoke House, Family Tradition Restaurant and Penn Gold Ice Cream, which is nearing its 100th anniversary. Hunting supplies make Gun World a popular destination among hunters in the area, he said.
Anschutz said that traffic has increased with the opening of a Marion Township water park in June. As Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park at Kozy Rest expanded, the company also added camping sites.
“And of course, increased traffic brings increased revenue,” Anschutz said.
With Slippery Rock University nearby, Anschutz also said Harrisville has become home to some students who choose to rent off campus. Meanwhile, the town’s famous Family Tradition Restaurant wants to begin a business association for the borough, Anschutz said.
As he looks to the future, Anschutz said he wants to retain first-time homebuyers who “leave after a couple years,” bring more activities to the community and continue making improvements to Harrisville’s skate park on Wick Avenue.
But for small municipalities, funding these projects can be a challenge.
The tax base in Harrisville, along with neighboring Mercer and Marion townships, West Sunbury, Cherry Township, Worth Township, Portersville, West Liberty and Brady Township is smaller than in other parts of the county.
“When applying for grants, we’re competing against a lot larger municipalities,” Anschutz said.
The main concerns of smaller towns in northwest Butler County is maintaining roads, said William Long, a supervisor for Mercer Township.
Michelle Dillaman Marlowe, who lives at the border between Marion Township and Cherry Township, said the area struggles with getting funding for road repairs and general maintenance.
“When you’re small, sometimes you get forgotten,” she said.
“(Marion Township) works with the funds given, and they do the best job they can,” she said.
In the decades to come, Long said he wants to see Mercer Township remain exactly as it is: rural and private.
“We don’t have streetlights or sidewalks — it’s just rural,” he said. “And I would like it to stay that way.”
Long said he doesn’t expect the county’s growth and development to extend to Mercer Township; if it does, it will happen slowly, he said.
“There’s no giant industry here,” he said. “There’s nothing to bring people — that they would flock to — in the area.”
Long used to commute to New Castle for work. He said many of the residents also work outside of Mercer Township, with access to Interstates 80 and 79.
Residents frequently travel to Harrisville, he said, whether for the town’s parades, or for dinner at Family Tradition Restaurant with ice cream to follow across the street.
An Air Force veteran, Long said he “traveled around the world” and was living in Tucson, Ariz., before moving back to his hometown in 2006. He now lives in a house 1,200 yards from where he grew up.
Marlowe, who grew up in Marion Township, also returned to northwest Butler County after living out-of-state. In the mid ’90s, Marlowe worked as a federal employee at Iron Mountain before moving away for 10 years to work for the FBI in West Virginia.
“Ultimately, there was a desire to return back to this area where family resides,” she said.
“This has always been a small, rural community where everybody knows everybody,” she said. “And porch-sitting was a thing back then.”
“The millennials moved in,” Marlowe said, reflecting on how the area has since changed. “There was a very small, older Italian generation that lived in this area of Boyers that has since grown.”
The change in community has also led Marlowe to create the Boyers Echo Facebook page for residents to post happenings in the area.
While older generations rely on the print edition of Butler Eagle to receive their news, Marlowe identified a need for the community at large to stay connected in the digital age. Nonetheless, the rural identity hasn’t been lost.
“The funniest thing now is a cow loose on Boyers Road,” Marlowe said.
“We’re a small community, but very mighty. We don’t have the city skirmishes that even Butler does,” she said. “The biggest hurdles is a deer, bear, cows on the road during the morning commute.”
Businesses are few and far between, she said, but like Harrisville, Marion Township has its own local shops, including McBride Pizza and Casper’s Annandale Station, as well as several mechanical businesses. Annandale Sandstone Quarry remains “a hidden gem,” Marlowe said.
“This is the place people go to for rural living,” Marlowe said. “They go fishing, hiking, hunting, and general exploring.”
Echoing Anschutz and Long, Marlowe said that Marion Township and the surrounding area offers more affordable housing than other municipalities.
Reinvigorating the area, however, still remains a goal for Marlowe. Repurposing St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church, the second oldest Catholic church in the county, could bring more life into Murrinsville, an unincorporated village in Marion Township, and the surrounding region, she said.
Marlowe said a board of directors is working with the Diocese of Pittsburgh to transform the 180-year-old building into the Murrinsville Community Center.
“When (the church) closed, it was pretty devastating, and now there’s an opportunity to bring it back and have it flourish,” she said. “It has the whole community excited.”
