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Originally the province of the Lenni Lenape tribe of
the Delaware Indians prior to the colonization by European settlers, the
land destined to become Doylestown and Bucks County remains widely regarded
as some of the most beautiful countryside in Pennsylvania – and America!
In 1682, William Penn, a Quaker, was granted the land of
Bucks County from the King of England as payment for a debt. Doylestown was
built on the tract that William Penn conveyed to the Free Society of Traders
in 1682, originally containing 20,000 acres. Of the 20,000 acres, 8,612 of
them lay in the nearby townships of Warwick, New Britain and Hilltown. The
area was twice reduced prior to 1726, when the remainder, containing about
2,000 acres in Warwick and New Britain, was purchased by Jeremiah Langhorne
of Middletown. Of Langhorne's purchase, Joseph Kirkbride from Falls Township
bought several hundred acres in New Britain. At the time of purchase, these
two proprietors owned every acre of land within the present borough limits.
The name “Doylestown” was apparently derived from the innkeeper William
Doyle who obtained a license to keep a public house in 1745 known as
“Doyle’s Tavern”. This building, once the Fountain House and currently a
Starbucks, is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Main
and State streets in Doylestown Borough. The mural on the wall of the
Doylestown Post Office, painted in 1934 by Charles Child, is the only
surviving depiction of the Doyle family. In 1750, the country hamlet
consisted of no more than a half dozen families living in log houses. There
was a blacksmith, a tavern, and a store selling pioneer gear. From its
earliest days as an unnamed colonial wilderness, Doylestown grew along with
America into a quiet country town. In 1792, a stagecoach route sprang up
along the Philadelphia-Easton Road (now Main Street), and Doylestown
remained a stopover along the route.
Because of its geographic location, Bucks County became the crossroads of
the American Revolution. The majority of Doylestown soldiers fought in
General George Washington’s army under General John Lacey III. General
Washington and his troops first passed through Doylestown during the bleak
period known by the British Army as the “Occupation of Philadelphia” in
September of 1777. Forced to evacuate the city, the Continental Congress
ordered that all bells and chimes be removed so that their metal could not
be melted down and cast into bullets by the enemy. Most important of all
these pieces was the Liberty Bell, which was then hanging in the Old State
House. According to Congress, the Liberty Bell was to be secretly conveyed
to Allentown and secured until Philadelphia could be retaken. Hidden under
straw and potato sacks in a wagon train of a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who
had come to the city to sell produce, the bell began its journey to safety
on September 17. The caravan moved slowly along the Delaware River to
Trenton, New Jersey while staying within the territory controlled by General
Washington. When General Washington ordered that the city be evacuated on
September 20, the wagons moved northward, re-crossed the Delaware at
Coryell’s Ferry (now New Hope), and zigzagged along a path paralleling the
present Route 202 through Doylestown. Once the Liberty Bell safely reached
Allentown on September 25, the main force of General Washington’s army
continued to Valley Forge where they endured a most bitter winter. However,
General Lacey and the Bucks County militia stayed behind to contain the
British troops in Philadelphia by fortifying the territory between the
Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. Due to weather and lack of soldiers, the
militia initially had a hard time preventing sympathizers from covertly
supplying the British with food and materials. Only after moving his
headquarters to centrally located Doylestown and receiving reinforcements
was General Lacey able to effectively check their movements. In June of
1778, news was received that the British had broken camp in Philadelphia and
were headed north. Recognizing the danger to New York, General Washington
immediately mobilized his men and raced toward Coryell’s Ferry in an effort
to cut off the British advance. On June 20th, General Washington and his
troops halted in Doyl town [sic]. General Washington left the next morning
to survey the situation along the Delaware, but his troops remained in
Doylestown for three days due to inclement weather. Just one week later,
General Washington turned the tide of the war in favor of the fledging Union
with the heroic victory in the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
Less than a century later, Doylestown stepped forward again to defend the
Union. Only three days after war broke out between the states in April of
1861, the Doylestown Guards, under the command of Captain William W. H.
Davis, answered President Lincoln’s call for troops by volunteering his
company for service. In less than three weeks the Guards were in Washington,
D.C. – the first company to reach the capitol from any state. This original
group of soldiers saw action immediately in the Shenandoah Valley.
After returning home a few months later, Captain Davis quickly organized the
104th Pennsylvania Volunteers. To train these new recruits, Camp Lacey,
named in honor of the Revolutionary War General of the Bucks County Militia,
was built just outside of Doylestown. Once reaching Washington in November
of 1861, the 104th Volunteers was incorporated in the Army of the Potomac,
then stationed in Virginia. For three years, the regiment saw heavy fighting
and distinguished itself in the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31st, 1862. By
the time they returned to Doylestown in September of 1864, the 104th had
suffered 501 casualties in battles from Virginia to South Carolina. On May
31st, 1868, a marble obelisk dedicated to the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteers
was erected at the Main Street intersection of Doylestown Borough. Inscribed
along all four sides were the names of each battle. This monument to the
Doylestown Brave still stands, over 140 years later.
From 1683 to 1725, the location of the county seat was unsettled due to the
region’s growth. During this time, Crewcorne (presently the area of
Morrisville), Bristol, and Newtown each served as the provincial capital. In
1784, when the town population had grown to several hundred inhabitants, an
attempt was made to move the seat of Bucks County from Newtown to the more
centrally located Doylestown. A total of eight petitions were signed by 284
people. In 1810, more than a quarter century later, the Pennsylvania General
Assembly finally authorized the change for the “Seat of Justice”. On May 11,
1813, Doylestown held its first court session. Soon after Doylestown became
the county seat, some thought was given to dividing the county, with either
Bristol or Newtown again becoming the county seat. This idea was given
serious consideration for almost forty years, but never came to pass.
In 1814, the inhabitants of Doylestown and its vicinity petitioned the
Judges of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the establishment of the
Township of Doylestown. By 1818, the Township of Doylestown was established
and was comprised of the village of Doylestown and 1,885 acres from
Buckingham Township, 5,350 acres from New Britain Township, and 3,515 acres
from Warwick Township. A number of small villages including Cross Keys,
Edison, Furlong and Tradesville were also included. The geographical
boundaries of Doylestown Township are quite irregular, as the Township
nearly surrounds the Borough of Doylestown. The first election of Township
officials was held on March 19, 1819 and by 1821, Doylestown Township had
grown to 339 taxpayers. In 1838, the growing village center of the Township
detached itself from the whole and was incorporated as Doylestown Borough.
Since that time, there has been little change in the basic form of township
government, except that today, five supervisors are elected in place of what
were only originally three “road supervisors”.
From the turn of the century on, Doylestown grew apace with the rest of
Bucks County, and was notably popular and prosperous as the seat of county
government. It became a professional’s town, with law and medicine among its
top trades. Doylestown flourished as a region where art, architecture and
good dining were revered, along with farming and other venerable trades.
Though the needs of the community have changed dramatically since William
Doyle opened his tavern over 250 years ago, the desire to preserve its
character has not. Rather than destroy structures whose original purposes
have long since faded into history, Doylestown residents and institutions
alike have taken care to adapt them to modern needs, crafts and traits which
had contributed to its particular indigenous identity.
The largest landowner in the Township today is Delaware Valley College. The
college began life as the National Farm School. Founded in 1896 by Rabbi
Joseph Krauskopf to teach young Philadelphia men the science of agriculture,
the school quickly expanded its enrollment so that all could benefit from
its instruction. At first, the school was physically confined to farmland
bought from Judge Richard Watson. However, the college began to increase its
holdings through a series of acquisitions and private grants. The deed to
the land surrounding the old Stephens Tavern was sold to the school in 1904
for $4,000 by the widow of Ephraim Fretz. The tavern, known as the Wayside
Inn when it was built in 1751, served as Doylestown’s meeting hall during
the Revolutionary War and early republic. After becoming the possession of
the college, it was made into a dormitory, and then later renovated into a
house. The building is now the residence of the former president of Delaware
Valley College. Surprisingly, one of the pieces of land that the college did
not absorb was the Agricultural and Mechanical Institute. The institute was
really a fair ground for the then-popular Annual Exhibition. The 33 acres of
land contained an impressive brick building which served as the exhibition
hall, two sheds, 100 closed box-stalls, and a half-mile track “acknowledged
by all good judges to be one of the very best in the country.” For unknown
reasons, interest in the fair waned, causing exhibitions to cease by the
turn of the century. The land is presently the location of a significant
institution of another kind: Central Bucks West High School.
No discussion of Township architecture would be complete without mentioning
the two Mercer mansions: Henry Mercer’s Fonthill, built in 1910, and William
Mercer’s Aldie mansion, built in 1927. Apart from its beauty, Fonthill is
interesting for its design which is based on the tenets of the International
style. In an effort to maximize the use of space, Henry concentrated first
on the arrangement of the mansion’s sixty rooms before concerning himself
with exterior aesthetics. William, on the other hand, pursued a more
traditional course and drew inspiration from the family’s ancestral home in
Scotland. Because of the generosity of the Mercer estates, both buildings
today enrich the entire community. Fonthill and the adjacent Moravian
Pottery and Tile Works are museums, while the Aldie mansion is home to the
Heritage Conservancy (formerly the Bucks County Conservancy), an
organization dedicated to preservation of the environment.
Fully embracing the future while preserving the best of its abundant
heritage, Doylestown has evolved into an area where exceptional people and
industry, classic architectural forms, history, recreational fun and a
picturesque landscape all combine to create a unique American identity, and
where every day, residents and visitors alike sense its well-secured place
in the stream of time as a truly one-of-a-kind community.
Compiled with editing, 2009
Amanda Enke, Intern, Doylestown Township
Information taken from the following sources:
www.livingplaces.com
www.doylestownborough.net
The 1993 Doylestown Annual Report
Know Your Township, A Study of Doylestown Township, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania
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Authored by Development Solutions