SLIPPERY ROCK — Anyone interested in the history of the borough will soon be able to take a free, self-guided walking tour of downtown.

Slippery Rock Development and Slippery Rock Heritage Association have been working together recently on “A Walk Around the Rock.”

It is a walking tour of 16 historic buildings or historic locations downtown, though the people involved hope to add more stops in the future.

Each of the 16 locations will be marked with a new engraved acrylic plaque that contains an old photograph of the building and information about its history.

The groups are also launching a website with more information about each stop and will distribute a brochure with a map.

SR Development secured the funding for the project by getting a $2,100 grant from Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, board member Jane Burger said.

It was looking for money to create a new activity or tourist attraction in downtown Slippery Rock, Burger said.

“It was something that would feed into the history of who we are and how we are trying to promote the downtown,” she said.

The grant covered the cost of the plaques and the new website, srheritage.org. Slippery Rock Development and the heritage association provided matching funds for the grant by paying for or getting donations of historical research, the design of the plaques, website and brochures and printing of the brochures.

The plaques were designed by Brian Pollock of Slippery Rock-based Gfx Advertising and were made by Pannier Company of Pittsburgh.

Sonya Lenz, a heritage association board member, said that longtime residents or people who grew up in Slippery Rock enjoy sharing memories about buildings and the history of the borough.

“There’s so much to say about these buildings, each building has its unique history,” Lenz said.

For the plaques, heritage association members collected old photographs of each building and took a new photograph from the same angle to show how it has changed over the years.

Lenz said community members who may have old photographs, or memories, could also help provide information about the locations or about potential future spots on the tour.

The heritage association hopes to find funding to keep adding to the tour, expanding past downtown and onto some of the residential streets too.