Butler County’s impressive sports history on display in 2 exhibits

Butler County’s impressive sports history is now on display at two Hamilton city buildings.

Visuals displays of Butler County sports teams and athletes dating back more than a century were put together by Sam Ashworth, of the Middletown Historical Society and Hamilton’s Heritage Hall.

“When I was wrapping this up, the World Series was going on,” Ashworth said of his six-month effort to put together the display. “Of course, I was going to include Kyle Schwarber … So I waited just long enough, and then the Cubs won.”

Ashworth said he was greatly helped by Stu Eversole of the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in compiling materials for the displays.

“He had a backlog of information that was really helpful,” said Ashworth, who also made many calls and unearthed his own information.

“I’ve done a lot of exhibits for Middletown, but this kind of gives me a chance to do some things for the county, and Hamilton,” he said. “I enjoy it.”

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Part I is in the street-level lobby of the city’s government building at 345 High St., with Part II on the second floor of the Heritage Hall Museum in the city’s former municipal building at 20 High St.

“We’re looking for some other places to display these now, around the county, especially the ones that deal with the county, like this one,” Ashworth said.

“I knew generally some information about some of the well-known sports figures in Butler County, but I had no idea the extent of the number of people who have really achieved some fame,” he said.

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