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Mars Centennial 1973 |
A proud past.
A comfortable present.
A promising future.
This is the Mars area, consisting of Cranberry, Adams, and Middlesex Townships in southern Butler County.
Butler County might be viewed as two counties in one, with different potential and diverse problems. The future looks brightest for the southern part of the county.
The spillover from Allegheny County, as more and more city dwellers seek the outlying suburbs, is causing an influx of new families in the area, and three super highways are attracting industrial development.
Cranberry Township, in the southwest corner of Butler County, has borne the brunt of the early population explosion, and also benefited the most from industrial development.
However, there are already signs that the trend to increased population and new industry is spilling north into Jackson Township and east into Adams and Middlesex Townships.
The Borough of Mars, which is the geographic center of the three- township region, already boasts a surprising amount of business and industry, both within the borough and the immediately surrounding area.
The proud past dates to 1792 when the first settler, James Glover, built his log cabin in what is now Adams Township. Placenames and names of some of today's leading citizens still reflect the area's early pioneers.
Middlesex and Cranberry Townships became the first of the area's townships to incorporate. They were among the four original townships which comprised Butler County.
Adams Township incorporated 50 years later, followed by Mars Borough in 1882 and Valencia Borough in 1897.
The Borough of Mars flourished in its early years because it was located on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and on the Butler Short Line, the electric trolley route which linked Pittsburgh and Butler.
Oil and coal brought a boom to the entire area, and the strategic location of Mars Borough, a name adopted at incorporation in 1882, made it a natural trade center for supplying the needs of the two industries.
Oil and coal were a great boost to the economy in the early history. The coal came from sub-surface mines, and the region is virtually un-scarred by the strip mines which ravaged the northern portions of Butler County.
Among the first businesses in Mars was a distillery, a bit of irony considering the "dry" status of the community today.
Grist mills were prominent among early business ventures, with streams providing the mill power One of the g 4'd E. most famous of the early mills was the Glade Mill in Middlesex Township, a short distance north of Cooperstown
John Woodcock established the first Glade Mill, and later added a saw mill. In 1877 the mills were sold to William Starr and Julius Baker. Starr later bought out the Baker interest.
Starr is a well-known name in lumber circles, and a lumberyard in the Glade Mills area on Route 8 is still operated under that name.
Although the Butler Short Line has long ceased to exist, and the B8cO trains merely whistle through Mars Borough, new highways being pushed through the Mars area more than offset losses in transportation facilities.
Route 228, linking Route 8 to the east and Routes 19 and Interstate 79 to the west, targets the Mars area for rapid growth and expansion.
Industry, with a few exceptions, has been a good neighbor within the primarily residential and agricultural region.
The still rural character of the countryside, plus a minimum of industrial pollution, has added to the area's attractiveness as a bedroom community for residents working in Pittsburgh, Butler, and other manufacturing and business centers.
With Route 8 and Route 19 providing speedy access to downtown Pittsburgh, many commuters make daily trips to their jobs there. When I-79 is completed into the heart of Pittsburgh, planners predict that the area will feel the full impact of the exodus from the city.
The boroughs - Mars, Valencia and Callery - are locked in by their boundaries, and are therefore limited in population growth potential. Nevertheless, the established communities fit integrally into expansion plans.
They will be vital as shopping centers and as suppliers of water and sewage services.
Mars Borough, with central sewage treatment already available, is a key to growth in the immediately surrounding area. Logic dictates that immediate residential development of any concentrated nature must come within range of the Mars sewage system and water supply.
The Mars area is served by two school districts. Cranberry Township is served by the Southwest Butler County School District, which includes both local elementary schools and Seneca Valley High School near Zelienople. Adams and Middlesex Townships are within the Mars Area School District. Both educational systems rank among the finest in the state.
The Mars Area School District has elementary schools in Middlesex and Adams Township and Mars Borough, an intermediate unit in Mars, and a new Middle School and Senior High School in Adams Township on Route 228.
Recreational facilities are bountiful, with beautiful Glade Run Lake among the more popular attractions. Lake Arthur and Moraine State Park are within easy driving distance, as is McConnell's Mill State Park.
Hunting and fishing are popular pastimes. The area has a sizable deer herd, including occasional trophy bucks, plus an abundance of rabbits, squirrel, pheasants and, in spots, grouse. Hunting opportunities are being diminished as fields and woodlots are taken over for residential and industrial development.
Two water impoundments, still in early planning stages, are being proposed as water supply reservoirs for the rapidly growing area. Conceivable, these could be developed into recreational areas for water sports enthusiasts. Sites being discussed are on Breakneck Creek between Mars and Evans City, and on Glade Run Creek in Adams Township.
As water supply reservoirs, they would replace the deep wells on which the area now relies.
There is no doubt that the growth of the Mars area will be accompanied by problems and challenges at least equal to those which tested the fortitude of the first settlers here.
Yet the future looks bright for the entire area, and its residents can look forward to the next century with as much optimism as they take pride in their historic tradition.
"To consider the earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that on a vast plain only one stalk of grain will grow" Metrodoros, Greek Philosopher 4th Century B.C.
From Life on Mars Centennial Book, 1973
Last Update 28 Jul 1997