A successful and long-lasting town requires a lot of effort on many people’s part, over decades to make it what it is today. This is true about Butler County’s Mars Borough.

According to research by scientists from Carnegie Museum, the beginnings of the borough and its surrounding area actually started with Native people around 10,000 B.C. There were several groups of Native people traveling and living in Mars and surrounding areas of Butler County.

These stewards of the land inadvertently provided Western-bound settlers with walking trails that had been used by Native people for centuries.

An approximate 1896 outline of Mars shows that the original trails, widened and used by settlers traveling by horse and wagon, eventually became the streets of the town.

From written histories, we learned there were several skirmishes between the Native people and explorers from Eastern United States who were traveling through Western Pennsylvania in the 1700s.

However, due to various treaties such as the Treaty of Greenville between the Native peoples and the U.S. Government in the late 1700s, the hostilities between the groups declined significantly.

The state also bought lands in Pennsylvania from the Six Nations in what is called the Purchase of 1784. This action allowed the state to offer Depreciation Lands to compensate its soldiers for their services during the Revolutionary War attracting more settlers.

The vast open space in Western Pennsylvania also drew immigrants, who longed to own their own plot of land.

Settlers began arriving in the Mars-Adams Township area in the late 1700s.

In 1792, James Glover was the first person to build a log cabin; he eventually claimed 400 acres in the area.

He was followed very shortly during the years of 1796 to 1805, by other settlers who claimed their land within what would be become the actual town of Mars and immediate surrounding area.

These included the Park, Kennedy, Covert and Davison families who settled on adjoining large plots of land that would later become the corner of what is now Pittsburgh and Crowe Avenue.

Adams Township property maps of 1858 and 1874 maps illustrate that many other families arrived and bought land from the original settlers around the Mars area.

In addition to improving the land, the first order of business for the settlers was to establish churches, schools and businesses.

The first church in the area was a log church known as Covenanter near the current Old Union Church. Other churches opened in Mars including the Reformed Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran and Catholic faiths.

The first log school was built in Adams in 1805. By 1899, there were 11 wooden, one-room school buildings in the Mars area.

The first school within the town of Mars was built of wood in 1892 where the Bell Tower Apartments are presently located on Crowe Avenue, and later rebuilt as a two story brick building in 1899. A brick high school was built in 1918 on Crowe Avenue.

The first businesses were developed to support farming activities. By 1871, there were two grist mills opened by the Park and Kennedy families, the Roberts Livery stables, the Conley Blacksmith Shop, the Johnston (later Marshall) General Store and the McKinney Distillery.

A brickyard was opened in 1870 by the Anderson Brothers. This brickyard changed ownership several times and grew into a significant brick making business. With the addition of a railroad siding, bricks were shipped to many building projects in Pittsburgh and Butler until it closed in 1972.

The first Mars Post Office was opened in 1873, in the Park family home near where Mars Bowling Lanes are now located.

How the name Mars was selected is a mystery. One theory is that it came from Mrs. Park’s fascination with astronomy. The other is that it was derived from a prominent resident by the name of Samuel Marshall, who assisted in the legalities of organizing the post office.

At the time of post office opening, the mail was brought by horseback to Mars by a Park family member, from a stagecoach stop in Wexford. The Mars Post Office moved to five different locations before its current spot on Grand Avenue in 1962.

Two events happened between 1877 and 1885 in Mars that assured the town would be important for many years to come.

The first event was the arrival of the railroad. Between 1877 and 1879, the Pittsburgh, New Castle and Lake Erie Railroad tracks were laid through Mars, connecting Mars to other regions of the United States.

The first stop for the railroad was at a building on the Park farm. Because the building was located near a creek, the stop was called Overbrook.

When both the Overbrook railroad stop and the Mars Post Office moved to the Marshall Store within the limits of the town on Marshall Way, the name of the railroad stop also became Mars.

At this time the population of Mars was about 50.

The second significant event in the life of the early town was the discovery of oil near Mars in 1885. This sparked a frenzy of drilling and producing oil wells around the town that lasted well into the 1900s.

This prompted a huge growth in businesses in Mars to support the oil industry, including three hotels and several restaurants to serve the workers.

Many towns in Western Pennsylvania that boomed because of the oil discovery became ghost towns after the wells stopped producing. Fortunately, that was not the case with Mars — a well-established economic and residential town.

Instead, because of the railroad, Mars became the receiving and distribution center for the oil industry supplies as drilling moved south and west to other areas.

By 1894, the population of Mars grew to 350.

In 1896, the town of Mars officially became a borough.

After becoming incorporated, the leaders of Mars became focused on developing the town’s infrastructure to support a population that had grown to 770 in 1900.

Between 1901 and 1945, natural gas was piped to all homes, electricity was provided to all buildings, telephones and two telephone exchanges were installed, water and sewer systems installed, streets were paved, fire and police departments were organized, and a local library was established.

The Mars Bank opened in 1900 with local ownership and still serves the citizens of Mars today.

Another new business focus for Mars was the health care industry. In 1903 and 1907, the St. John’s Homes for the Aged and Children were built.

This St. John’s facility, which was started by the Lutherans, has grown significantly over the years and is a large source of employment for town residents.

The Mars United Presbyterian Home for Children also opened just outside Mars in 1929, and has provided additional employment over the years. It is now called MHY.

Also assisting with the growth of the borough during the second development period was the installation of the Pittsburgh-Butler Railway through Mars.

This was an electric street car railroad that operated from Pittsburgh to Butler along Clay Avenue from 1907 to 1931. It hauled passengers as well as freight to and from businesses and farms throughout the Mars area. Although it was popular, it went out of business due to the advent of buses and trucks.

The town’s police department was established in 1931.

The town’s population increased to around 1,250 during this period of development.

The town of Mars in 2023 has 1,386 residents. Its downtown features a square with the bell from the USS Mars, an active Navy fleet surface ship from 1963 to 2006, and another unique tourist attraction.

To borrow a description of Mars from the Butler County Tourism & Visitors Bureau website: “Yes, there really is life on Mars, and residents take full advantage of the fun opportunities their town’s name creates. A flying saucer is parked in the town square, offering an unusual photo opportunity for visitors. Alien sightings occur daily in storefront windows.

“Letters with a Mars, Pa,. postmark are frequently mailed around the world from the local post office. And, like most small towns, community life frequently revolves around events at the Mars School District, home of the Planets.“

Mars is a prime example of small town America, where people gather at the local diner and greet each other on the sidewalk. Several small businesses line the main street, offering an array of services to residents and visitors.

Today, the area surrounding Mars is flourishing with new residential developments and commercial businesses that are setting up shop on Route 228, a main thoroughfare that passes just a half-mile from town.

This Butler County town is definitely one that you can describe as simply “out of this world.”

Bob Lang is a volunteer at the Mars Area History & Landmarks Society.