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A Brief History
John W. Butler, a roadbuilder and general entrepeneur, originally ran a pick-your-own strawberry farm and and an Air Port on this Elizabeth Township property (former Patterson and McKnight farms). The Air Port was closed suddenly when one of the stunt pilots took J.W.'s daughter, Mildred, up for a spin -- and he did a loop-di-loop.
Soon, J.W. hired some folks who knew a bit about golf and built the original 18 holes in 1928 with horses and scoops. Nine additional holes were added in 1963, with some rerouting. Also, on August 3, 1963, a tornado
blew through and demolished the old clubhouse and a lot of trees. Now we're in the 4th generation, and in 2000, we opened a fourth nine holes, which covers ground that had been mainly farmland. The restaurant has been expanded many times over the years. It was formerly called the Mulligan, and the Banquet Rooms didn't exist until 1992 when they were formed out of our former Golf Shop location. The Bed & Breakfast also began operations in 1992.
See the photo gallery for comparative views and see how much has changed over the years.
Pre-1963 Scorecard (front 9).
This building was the old McKnight farmhouse (the peaked roof section), and its walls are over a foot thick. An addition in the rear served as the original restaurant and is now the business office and a cart garage. The old stainless steel sink and counter are still in place. For a while, there were two apartments in the building. Now there is just one. Great Uncle Theodore lived in the house in the 60's. He raised chickens upstairs -- "Oh, the smell!" At times, he would open the upstairs door in the dormer and allow the peeps to run around on the balcony. 
The old front porch blew off in the '63 tornado, but the house was otherwise unaffected.
Below is John Butler's Standard Auto building at 700 Walnut St. (at 7th) in, yes, McKeesport. This photo is from about 1925, when it was a Ford dealership. Later, J.W. sold Chryslers. He built the building, and the first floor was the showroom. The arrow points to the landing strip at Bettis Field.
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©1999-2008 Butler's Golf Course, Inc. and Rock Run, Inc. All rights reserved.
800 Rock Run Road / Elizabeth, PA 15037 (45 minutes southeast of Pittsburgh)
412-751-9121 -- Golf & General Info
412-751-1070 -- Restaurant, Banquets, Outings
412-751-6670 -- Bed & Breakfast
www.Butlersgolf.com
