Butler Pike
Butler Pike | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length | 9.8 mi (15.8 km) |
| Existed | 1712 (route established) 1849-1896 (turnpike) 1896–present |
| Major junctions | |
| Southwest end | Fayette Street in Conshohocken |
| Ridge Pike in Harmonville Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting  PA 73 near Ambler PA 309 near Ambler PA 63 in Maple Glen | |
| Northeast end |  PA 152 in Maple Glen |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| Counties | Montgomery |
| Highway system | |
Butler Pike is a road in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, that runs northeast from Conshohocken to Maple Glen. For most of its 9.8 mi (15.8 km) length, it is a county road.
Route description
Fayette Street begins at the Schuylkill River and is the principal route through the Borough of Conshohocken.[1] At 11th Avenue, the borough boundary, Fayette Street becomes Butler Pike and continues northeast as part of State Route 3016 (SR 3016), an unsigned quadrant route and a four-lane undivided road along the boundary between Plymouth Township and Whitemarsh Township. The road passes through residential areas and intersects North Lane, where SR 3016 ends and Butler Pike becomes a county road. After this intersection, Butler Pike becomes a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane and passes a mix of homes and businesses, coming to an junction with Ridge Pike in a commercial area in the community of Harmonville. The roadway narrows to a two-lane undivided road and heads through residential neighborhoods, curving slightly to fully enter Whitemarsh Township as it bypasses the Plymouth Friends Meetinghouse, and reaching an offset intersection with Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting.
From here, Butler Pike continues northeast along the boundary between Plymouth Township to the northwest and Whitemarsh Township to the southeast as a two-lane undivided road, passing industrial parks and heading under Norfolk Southern's Morrisville Line. The road passes near residential development and intersects Plymouth Road/Flourtown Road in the community of Cold Point. From here, Butler Pike passes more homes and curves northwest to fully enter Plymouth Township, with Cold Point Hill Road continuing northeast along the township line. The road makes a sharp turn to the east before curving back to the northeast along the township line and passing under the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-276). Butler Pike continues through wooded areas of homes and commercial development, at the Township Line Road intersection becoming the boundary between Whitpain Township to the northwest and Whitemarsh Township to the southeast. The road runs through wooded residential areas before it comes to an intersection with PA 73 in an area of businesses in the community of Broad Axe. Following this intersection, Butler Pike continues northeast through a mix of fields, woods, and homes. The road curves east-northeast to fully enter Whitemarsh Township before it heads northeast into Upper Dublin Township and crosses Morris Road as it heads into forested areas.[2][3]
The road crosses the Wissahickon Creek and enters the borough of Ambler, where the name changes to West Butler Avenue. The roadway heads east-northeast through commercial areas before it crosses SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown Line at-grade north of Ambler station. At this point, West Butler Avenue heads into the commercial downtown of Ambler. At the Main Street intersection, the road becomes East Butler Avenue and runs through more of the downtown area. The road heads northeast past more businesses before it runs through residential areas. On the eastern border of Ambler, the road comes to an intersection with Bethlehem Pike. Upon crossing Bethlehem Pike, Butler Pike leaves Ambler for Upper Dublin Township and passes through residential areas, coming to an intersection with Susquehanna Road in the community of Rose Valley. Butler Pike reaches a partial interchange with the PA 309 freeway, with access to northbound PA 309 and access from southbound PA 309; the missing movements are provided via an interchange with Susquehanna Road. Past the PA 309 interchange, the road continues northeast through wooded residential areas and comes to a junction with Norristown Road in the community of Three Tuns. From here, Butler Pike passes more residential neighborhoods as it heads into Maple Glen, where it intersects PA 63 and crosses into Horsham Township. Butler Pike runs through wooded areas of homes and comes to its terminus at an intersection with PA 152.[2][3]
History
The route was laid out in 1712 by Simon Butler (1684–1764), a Bucks County miller and justice of the peace, for whom the road was later named.[4] It provided a trade route to the Schuylkill River at Matson's Ford (Conshohocken),[5] and facilitated communication among the Quaker meeting houses in Plymouth Meeting, Upper Dublin, Horsham, and central Bucks County.
Butler Pike was part of a route used in the Underground Railroad. For more than twenty years, George and Martha Maulsby Corson sheltered fugitive slaves in their house at the corner of Germantown and Butler Pikes.[6] The Underground Railroad "stops" were located 5 mi (8.0 km) to 10 mi (16 km) apart, and under darkness a "conductor" would escort the enslaved to the next "stop."[7]
Two sections of Butler Pike were converted into turnpikes in the 19th century—the Whitemarsh and Plymouth Turnpike, which improved the road between Germantown Pike and Conshohocken, and operated from 1849 to 1896; and the Upper Dublin and Plymouth Turnpike, which improved the road between Germantown Pike and Limekiln Pike, and operated from 1855 to 1896.[8]
Major intersections
The entire route is in Montgomery County.
| Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conshohocken | SR 3016 (Fayette Street) | Western terminus | |||
| Whitpain–Whitemarsh township line | PA 73 (Skippack Pike) | ||||
| Upper Dublin Township |  PA 309 north (Fort Washington Expressway) – Montgomeryville | Interchange; access to northbound PA 309 and access from southbound PA 309 | |||
| Upper Dublin–Horsham township line | PA 63 (Welsh Road) | ||||
| Horsham Township | PA 152 (Limekiln Pike) | Eastern terminus | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
See also
References
- ^ "History of Conshohocken".
- ^ a b "Butler Pike" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- ^ Quattrone, Frank D. (2004). Ambler, Volume 4. Arcadia Publishing. p. 76.
- ^ Theodore Weber Bean, History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884), p. 771.
- ^ Hiram Corson, M.D. "Norristown Group," The Abolitionists of Montgomery County, (Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1900), p. 35.
- ^ Ron Avery, "Plymouth Meeting Quakers Hid Slaves – It's A Shrine Of The Underground Railroad," The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 1995.
- ^ "The Freedom Valley Chronicles – Butler Pike".