Butler County Celebrates 200th Birthday
Butler County is celebrating its 200th birthday this year- along with the state of Alabama’s 200th Bicentennial. A special celebration was held Saturday in downtown Greenville.
‘Its a once in a lifetime event, you know, it’s just fantastic. It brings so many people together from communities- whether it’s fire departments, churches, schools- all these people are participating,” chairperson of Butler County’s Bicentennial Committee Annie Crenshaw said.
Hundreds of people from around the state and country came to enjoy the festivities and to learn more about the history and heritage of the Camellia City.
“Its very cool because Greenville is such a tiny town and Alabama, and its cool to see all of these people coming to see our heritage and everything,” local 8th-grader Kate Turner said.
A special visitor to the event was Bonnie Pierce, who came down from Tennessee with her husband. Pierce said she’s a descendant of Captain William Butler, whom the county is named after.
“He fought in the battle of Calebee Creek here in Alabama during the War of 1812. He was massacred here in 1818 and the County was named for him the next year,” Pierce said.
There were history displays and local historic site tours of cemeteries and some of the county’s oldest churches.
“You can take tours of all the area churches close by, the Art Deco Ritz Theatre and Pioneer Cemetery with even more guides in historic costumes,” Crenshaw said.
Local bands and music groups provided the entertainment. Butler County will officially turn 200 on December 13th. It’s one day older than the state of Alabama.
