Butler, IN

Butler is a DeKalb County city that grew with the railroad. It was platted in 1856 when the line reached the site, and by the early twentieth century three railroads met there, sending as many as sixty trains through in a day. The Downtown Butler Historic District preserves the commercial core that formed around that traffic. Today Butler's local map still follows the old logic: Broadway and the downtown blocks, the rail corridor, and DeKalb County Eastern Community Schools. The city began as a rail stop and ended up with a civic center that still carries the shape of that first connection.