Butler is a city in
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb:
* DeKalb County, Alabama
* DeKalb County, Georgia
* DeKalb County, Illinois
* DeKalb County, Indiana
* DeKalb County, Missouri
...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, United States. The population was 2,684 at the 2010 census.
History
Butler was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
ted in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named for David Butler, a
pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
. Butler was
incorporated as a town in 1866, and as a city in 1903.
On July 23, 1966, Butler was one of the end points of a record-setting speed run by a
New York Central
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
RDC-3,
M-497 Black Beetle
The M-497 (nicknamed Black Beetle by the press) was an experimental jet-powered railcar test bed of the New York Central Railroad, developed and tested in 1966 in the United States. Two second-hand General Electric J47-19 jet engines, originally ...
, modified with a pair of jet engines, as the rail line between it and
Stryker
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...
, Ohio, was both straight and flat. The car reached a speed of , an American rail speed record that still stands today.
The
Downtown Butler Historic District was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2001.
Geography
Butler is located at .
According to the 2010 census, Butler has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 2,684 people, 951 households, and 668 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 1,089 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.5%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.4%
Native American, 0.2%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 2.3% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.8% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 4.3% of the population.
There were 951 households, of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 9.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.8% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.17.
The median age in the city was 33.7 years. 29.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.1% were from 25 to 44; 22.7% were from 45 to 64; and 11.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.9% male and 50.1% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 2,725 people, 983 households, and 699 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,075 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.69%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.15%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.18%
Native American, 0.11%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 1.25% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.62% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.24% of the population.
There were 983 households, out of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.8% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,250, and the median income for a family was $42,188. Males had a median income of $32,361 versus $21,404 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $15,040. About 5.5% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.
Government
![Butler Indiana crossroads](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Butler_Indiana_crossroads.jpg)
![Butler Indiana home](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Butler_Indiana_home.jpg)
The government consists of a
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and a Common Council, often referred to as the
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The city council consists of five members, four of whom are elected from Butler's four individual districts. The remaining councilperson is elected at large. The city council is responsible for hearing and passing
ordinances that become law; town meetings occur on the first and third Monday of each month at 7 PM.
Local newspaper
The Butler Bulletin, serving eastern DeKalb County, was purchased by KPC Media Group Inc. in December 2005, from publisher Joe Shelton, who founded the
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
in 1976. The editor is Jeff Jones, who has worked for the weekly since 1985.
Education
The city of Butler lies in the school district of
DeKalb County Eastern Community Schools. The local schools city residents attend are:
* Butler Elementary
*
Eastside Junior-Senior High School
Eastside Junior-Senior High School is a public secondary school located in Butler, Indiana. The school serves students in grades 7 to 12 for the DeKalb County Eastern Community School District.
Athletics
Eastside is in the Northeast Corner C ...
* Riverdale Elementary
Public library
The city of Butler is served by the Butler Public Library.
The
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
completed an expansion and renovation project in August 2009, nearly doubling its size. The expansion included a new Children's Department and Story Time Room, a new community room, Teen Zone and Genealogy Room.
Notable people
*
Jeff Berry,
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
leader
*
Nemo Leibold
Harry Loran "Nemo" Leibold (February 17, 1892 – February 4, 1977) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1913 to 1925. He played for the Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and Washington Senators. He stood at and was n ...
, outfielder for
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
in both the
1917 and
1919 World Series
The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...
.
References
External links
City of Butler, Indiana websiteButler Public Library
{{authority control
Cities in Indiana
Cities in DeKalb County, Indiana
1856 establishments in Indiana
Populated places established in 1856