The Old Stone House of Butler County
Route 8
The highway that passes the Old Stone House is Route 8. It was first signed as an actual highway in 1926 from West Virginia to Erie. There is debate about its early existence. The ‘Venango Trail’ was an Indian trail that was famously trotted on by George Washington in 1753 on his way to Fort Le Bouf. The debate has been on the actual location of the trail. Some belief that it was located where Route 8 is today and others believe it intersected Route 8.
Indian trails during the prairie days were most often used to travel on by stagecoach. A stagecoach is a horse-driven vehicle that was used at the time to travel passengers, and goods all over America. Most of time these stagecoaches traveled anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours a day. The travelers needed to rest at some point, and that is just what the Old Stone House gave them in the nineteenth century. The owners of the Old Stone House greeted many travelers during this time some figures more notable than others. It was the premiere resting point at the time between Pittsburgh and Erie. Stagecoach travel has an interesting history as well. They had odd rules back then, and it is unknown to me if these were the rules the travelers had made up, or they were set rules. Some of the rules I have found that were used pre-1900’s were: allow five days for each one hundred miles of travel for rest, take plenty of guns and ammo, do not drink alcohol in the freezing weather, do not fire rifles unless it is necessary, do not stay up late, do not smoke around women and children, and keep your politics and preaching to yourself.
Like everything in this world, a change will come for just about everything. With the invention of railroads traffic over the road was light and the owners at the time could not make a living which is one of the reasons that left to the Old Stone House abandonment. Route 8 has also changed throughout the years. They have changed the intersection point where Route 8,528 and 173 meet. Not too long there were many car accidents at the intersection which caused this necessary change for safe travel. Brady Township had also made efforts in the 1970’s for a ‘Crossroads’ memorial park. It was supposed to be plotted on an acre of land where it would contain picnic areas, scenic trails, and an arboretum. The park was supposed to be the third county park put into action; however, we have yet to see this park today.
More recent news that is going on near Route 8 is the preservation of the habitats of an endangered species of snakes. The ‘massasauga’ rattlesnake is called the single-most endangered species in the state, and the Jennings Environmental Education Center is the center of research for a one million dollar study. They manage at the center, Dave Johnson, claims that the snakes like ‘open areas’ and this area is ‘very bleak’ at this time. If they are able to find these snakes in this area it will still be hard for them to repopulate quickly to survive because this species only reproduces every other year.
Indian trails during the prairie days were most often used to travel on by stagecoach. A stagecoach is a horse-driven vehicle that was used at the time to travel passengers, and goods all over America. Most of time these stagecoaches traveled anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours a day. The travelers needed to rest at some point, and that is just what the Old Stone House gave them in the nineteenth century. The owners of the Old Stone House greeted many travelers during this time some figures more notable than others. It was the premiere resting point at the time between Pittsburgh and Erie. Stagecoach travel has an interesting history as well. They had odd rules back then, and it is unknown to me if these were the rules the travelers had made up, or they were set rules. Some of the rules I have found that were used pre-1900’s were: allow five days for each one hundred miles of travel for rest, take plenty of guns and ammo, do not drink alcohol in the freezing weather, do not fire rifles unless it is necessary, do not stay up late, do not smoke around women and children, and keep your politics and preaching to yourself.
Like everything in this world, a change will come for just about everything. With the invention of railroads traffic over the road was light and the owners at the time could not make a living which is one of the reasons that left to the Old Stone House abandonment. Route 8 has also changed throughout the years. They have changed the intersection point where Route 8,528 and 173 meet. Not too long there were many car accidents at the intersection which caused this necessary change for safe travel. Brady Township had also made efforts in the 1970’s for a ‘Crossroads’ memorial park. It was supposed to be plotted on an acre of land where it would contain picnic areas, scenic trails, and an arboretum. The park was supposed to be the third county park put into action; however, we have yet to see this park today.
More recent news that is going on near Route 8 is the preservation of the habitats of an endangered species of snakes. The ‘massasauga’ rattlesnake is called the single-most endangered species in the state, and the Jennings Environmental Education Center is the center of research for a one million dollar study. They manage at the center, Dave Johnson, claims that the snakes like ‘open areas’ and this area is ‘very bleak’ at this time. If they are able to find these snakes in this area it will still be hard for them to repopulate quickly to survive because this species only reproduces every other year.
