Butler Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. The population was 9,469 at the 2020 census.

History

Founding

The township is named after Col. Zebulon Butler; he is most famous for his action at the

Battle of Wyoming The Battle of Wyoming, also known as the Wyoming Massacre, was a military engagement during the American Revolutionary War between Patriot militia and a force of Loyalist soldiers and Iroquois warriors. The battle took place in the Wyoming Val ...

, which resulted in his defeat by British-allied forces. Butler lost 340 men while attacking a superior force of

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

s and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

. In 1839, Butler Township was formed from a section of Sugarloaf Township. The southern portion of Butler Township was transferred over to

Hazle Township Hazle Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,150 at the time of the 2020 census. The township surrounds the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Hazleton and the borough of ...

in 1861.

Drums Village

18th century

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

is an unincorporated community in Butler Township. The village was named after the Drum family, whose members developed the village's first school, post office, hotels, churches, roads, and businesses. Family members held positions as pioneers, land developers, justices of the peace, postmasters, school presidents, educators, tailors, shoe makers, hotel proprietors, lawyers, and Pennsylvania state legislators. In 1738, Philip Drum, aged 36, immigrated to America from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with his eight-year-old son Jacob. In 1749, Jacob married Catharine Strauss, who gave birth to a son, George, on June 12, 1762, in Williams Township, Northampton County. According to the 1790 United States Federal Census, George Drum lived in "Allen Township" (now West Bethlehem) during the 1790s before moving his family to the Nescopeck Valley (now Sugarloaf Valley). While in the valley, he established a hotel business and eventually established the towns of Drums and Conyngham.

19th century

In 1808, Philip Drum (son of George Sr.) bought land in Luzerne County from

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

, who was a close advisor to

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and signed the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

. In 1810, Philip established Drums' first carding mill on the Little Nescopeck River. In addition, Philip established the first wool-processing mill in 1835; it was located a short distance from the carding mill. In 1814, George's second son, George Jr. (born October 16, 1792), bought land next to his brother Philip. Philip bought additional land in 1814, 1826, 1836, and 1847. George Sr., George Jr., Philip, and other Drum family members owned vast acreage of land in Drums, Conyngham, and surrounding counties. George Drum's two century old estate still stands in immaculate condition in Conyngham and is a fine example of colonial architecture. George Sr. and George Jr. both died in 1831. On February 27, 1858, Philip died at the age of 71 in Drums, Butler Township. Further community and land development by family members made Drums and St. Johns the commercial centers of Butler Township. Drums is the principal village of the township.

Recent history

The Luzerne County Fresh Air Camp was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2004.

Geography

Map of Luzerne County Pennsylvania School Districts

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.75%, is water. It is drained by Nescopeck Creek westward into the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

. Lake of the Four Seasons is a body of water located in the eastern portion of the township. Butler Township is a mostly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

community consisting of

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

and forests. It is located mainly in the Sugarloaf Valley between

Nescopeck Mountain Nescopeck Mountain (also known as Nescopec Mountain) is a ridge in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia County and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. Its elevation is above sea level. The ridg ...

to the north and Buck Mountain to the south. Its villages include Beech Mountain Lakes,

, Edgewood, Kis-Lyn, Nescopeck Pass (also in Dorrance Township), St. Johns, and Sand Spring.

Climate

Butler Township has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'') and the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 6a. Average monthly temperatures in St. Johns range from 25.4 °F in January to 70.8 °F in July.

Transportation

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

intersect in Butler Township. * PA 309 also passes through the community.

Education

Hazleton Area School District Hazleton Area School District is a large, rural public school district in Pennsylvania, stretching across portions of Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon Counties. Its headquarters are in Hazle Township. Students in grade nine through 12 attend H ...

operates public schools in the township. They include:Locate Us
"

. Retrieved on July 18, 2016. *

Elementary-Middle School * Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences in Drums

Hazleton Area High School Hazleton Area High School (HAHS) is a public high school located in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania and is part of the Hazleton Area School District. As of the 2023-24 school year, the school had 3,884 students, according to National Center for Edu ...

is the zoned high school for all Butler Township residents.

Neighboring municipalities

* Dorrance Township (north) * Wright Township (tangent to the northeast) * Dennison Township (east) * Foster Township (east) *

(south) * Sugarloaf Township (west) * Hollenback Township (northwest)

Weather

2005 Butler Township weather summary

*Highest recorded temperature: 98 °F on 8/13/05 *Lowest recorded temperature: -8 °F on 12/14/05 *Yearly precipitation (rain & melted snow): 42.78 inches

2006 weather summary

*Highest recorded temperature: 94 °F on 8/1, 8/2, & 8/3/06 *Lowest recorded temperature: 6 °F on 2/19/06 *Yearly precipitation (rain & melted snow): 55.98 inches (12.31 for the month of June alone)

2007 weather summary

*Highest recorded temperature: 94 °F on 8/2 & 8/25/07 *Lowest recorded temperature: -1 °F on 2/5/07 *Yearly precipitation (rain & melted snow): 43.96 inches

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 7,166 people, 2,523 households, and 1,899 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,747 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 92.69%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 5.67%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.15% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.39% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.79% of the population. There were 2,523 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.93. In the township the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $46,783, and the median income for a family was $53,958. Males had a median income of $38,926 versus $23,299 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $21,020. About 3.2% of families and 10.3% 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 ...

, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Nate Eachus, NFL football player *

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

, film actor

References

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania