Motorists or pedestrians on North McKean Street who possess even a shred of curiosity no doubt wonder about the stories behind the stately and architecturally diverse mansions presiding over the old sidewalks there, and on June 17, local historian Bill May will unlock the fascinating histories behind 20 of them.

Historic Mansions of Butler--A Walking Tour will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 17.

Tickets, which are $15 per person, are required, and the .6-mile tour begins at the intersection of North McKean and Howard streets in Butler.

May said the mansions tour has very popular over the past four years of its existence, mainly with folks like him, whose families have lived in Butler County for generations.

“There has been enough audience that I can do it three times per summer,” May said.

He figures about 500 people total have enjoyed the tour as it enters its fourth summer.

“Everyone can relate to the homes and everyone always kind of dreams that may what it would be like to live in a big house like that,” May said.

The 90-minute tour will accommodate 50 people, and will tell the tales of not only the homes and their architecture styles, but of the families who built them or lived there.

“People are interested in who the people were who had the wealth to build those houses, especially in a small town like Butler,” May said.

The tour will begin at a home on Pearl Street, then continue up Polk Street to the entrance to Elm Court, then down Cliff Street to Fulton, then up East Fulton to Franklin, then back to East Pearl, and ending at Pearl and North McKean.

May and those in attendance will stop on the sidewalk in front of each home, all of which are occupied.

Because the tour does not enter the homes or go onto their properties, permission from the homeowners was not necessary.

May will give a short presentation in front of each home that may include the builder and his story or connections to famous Americans enjoyed by those who lived there.

“I have photos of many of the people who built the homes,” May said, “so they get to see who these people were.”

He also has photos of many of the homes shortly after they were built that patrons can compare with the home as it stands today.

Asked to name the most interesting house on the tour, and May points to his own home, which is on the tour.

“It’s the house I’ve always wanted to live in since I was a little kid,” said May, who grew up in the general area of the houses on the tour. “I used to come to this house on Halloween and visit two maiden sisters who lived there, Claire and Edna Bartley.”

When May bought his dream house, it was basically unchanged since he visited the Bartley sisters in the 1960s and ‘70s.

“Besides painting and new wallpaper and those types of things, we have kept it in its original state,” he said.

George Washington Fleeger, who served in the Civil War, built the home.

“I have a a photo of him in his officer’s uniform with his sword hanging in my entryway, so that’s a big thrill for me,” May said.

Another home on the tour was built by John V. Ritts, who was president of the Butler County National Bank, and who built the LaFayette building and had a nearby city park named for him.

“He was a close friend of John D. Rockefeller,” May said.

He said it is these details that make the tour interesting, not just the cornices, gables and doors.

“I try to make these people come alive,” May said.

He said the largest brick home on the tour is the one built in 1902 by Edward Everett Abrams, whose family was close friends with Mark Twain.

“That is why I think my tour is popular,” May said, “because of those connections I’ve been able to flesh out in my research.”

The largest frame home on the tour is the one on Franklin Street built by Leo Purvis.

“He could build the largest frame home in Butler because his family owned a lumber yard,” May said.

Other homes have connections to the Underground Railroad and even Abraham Lincoln.

“The people on the tour are most surprised over the connections these folks had to well-known figures and events,” May said.

Pat Casey, who lives in the neighborhood where the tour will begin and end, has been on May’s mansion tour more than once.

“There’s a good chance he knows more about Butler city and Butler County than any living person,” said Casey, who is May’s neighbor and friend. “He is very passionate about the town and county where he grew up.”

Casey was amazed at the stories hidden in the old mansions’ walls when he took his first tour.

“I was cognizant of the fact that there are a number of striking old homes (on and around North McKean Street), but I had no idea until I went on tour how many of them had these stories associated with them of the town’s founders, bank presidents, and even John Ritts, who was assassinated on the front porch of his home,” Casey said. “There really are fascinating stories of these mansions.”

He said May’s impassioned delivery of the stories also makes the tour more interesting.

“He researches subject matter so well that he discovers these stories that would otherwise be lost,“ Casey said.

May would agree that he is more than fervent when it comes to the people of Butler’s origins.

“I just love history and I love telling stories,” May said, “and I grew up in this neighborhood.”

May’s ancestors going back more than four generations also lived in the neighborhood.

“These homes were always referred to, in my family, by name,” May said. “The Ritts house, the Purvis house, for example.”

He looks forward to schooling the historically curious at the next Historic Mansions of Butler: A Walking Tour.

“It instills pride in Butler to people and that’s one of the reasons I do this,” May said. “We always hear so much negative, and I want to show people this is a town to be proud of.”

May will only do one mansion tour this summer, as he is preparing a historic tour of Main Street as well.

Tickets for the mansion tour are available on Facebook by searching “Bill May History Events,” or by email at butlerwalkingtour@gmail.com.

Tickets, which are $15, must be purchased in advance.