Butler County is one step closer to becoming a member of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.
The area recognizes the historic imprint Big Steel and related industries had on the culture of Western Pennsylvania. The designation helps to preserve and promote historic sites.
Recognized on a state and federal level since 1996, the heritage area includes Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Green, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Armstrong County was added a year later.
Butler County was recognized early on as an important thread in the region's economic fabric, but it wasn't included in Rivers of Steel initially and there wasn't significant pressure until recently to have the county added, according to August Carlino, president of the nonprofit Steel Industry Heritage Corp. that manges the heritage area.
That's about to change.
Representatives from the organization hosted a public hearing in Butler on Tuesday to introduce the public to the idea of adding Butler County to Rivers of Steel and to ask residents to share important bits of the county's history.
The hearing is one of the required steps to gaining state approval of the county's addition, Carlino said. It is part of the process of taking an inventory of the county's historical sites, traditions and events.
"It's like a treasure hunt," said Doris Dyen, the organization's director of cultural heritage.
Dyen introduced three of Steel Industry Heritage Corp.'s field workers who spent the summer scouring the county for relevant historical tidbits.
Dyen said the hunt will continue for several more months. The data then will be gathered and grouped into themes.
The historians are particularly interested in finding clusters of places that have a related back story, Dyen said. Those places then can be promoted as hotspots for historical tourism and possibly tied in with similar sites elsewhere within the heritage area.
Residents got the chance to recommend sites to investigate. Suggestions ranged from industrial in nature -- old railroad routes, grist mills and glass plants -- to cultural points of interest, including churches, cemeteries and theaters.
"Our heritage includes not only our history, but architecture, the arts, I guess all of the things that make up our culture," said Butler County Senior Judge Martin O'Brien, a member of the steering committee.
While officials are pursuing Butler County's addition to Rivers of Steel on a state level, they also are working to have Congress and the National Park Service include the county.
U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-Erie, whose congressional district includes most of Butler County, has introduced a bill to include the county in Rivers of Steel. Carlino said all Pennsylvania representatives have agreed to cosponsor the legislation, which must be approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Those involved are hopeful both designations will come through by next summer.
"It looks favorable at this point," O'Brien said.
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