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Bucks was one of the three original counties established by the Founder of Pennsylvania in 1682. It took its name from a district in England, from whence came a number of the passengers by the Welcome. In a letter to the Free Society of Traders, early in 1683, William Penn speaks of it as Buckingham County, a shire or county in England. The Penns were an old Buckinghamshire family and had been seated there for generations; and many of the Quakers who had come over with Penn on the Welcome had migrated from Buckinghamshire.
7
Egle
FIRST COUNTY SEAT
Carved in marble on a wall in the Bucks County Courthouse!
Bucks County was organized in 1683, courthouses were built in:
- FALLS TWP 1684
- BRISTOL 1705
- NEWTOWN 1725
- DOYLESTOWN 1812
- DOYLESTOWN 1877
- DOYLESTOWN 1962
The location of the first Court House in Bucks County, in Falls Township, near the Delaware River, below Morrisville..... also called Crookhorne
From Battle's History..... "that portion of Falls (as erected in 1692)
between Pennsbury and the river at Biles island, in which the first
court-house of the county was situated. The name may have been suggested by
the peculiar bend of the river at this place. Like Pennsbury, its political
autonomy has long since ceased to exist. Even the name is no longer
recognized in the locality to which it once applied."
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BUCKS COUNTY POCKET FACTS 2a.
 | Population: 1999, an estimated 596,000 people |
| Area: Land - 608 square miles Water: 15.8 square miles |
| Government: 23 boroughs and 31 townships
Three commissioners, Clerk of Courts, controller, Coroner, District Attorney, Judy Commissioners, Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds, Register of wills, Sheriff and Treasurer |
| Recreation: 23 Park areas, totaling 7,500, including 5 lakes and up to 365 acres in size. 4,318 acres of state gameland, 7 state parks. |
| Historic Sites:
| Washington Crossing State Park |
| The Mercer Museum |
| Pennsbury Manor |
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| Schools: 13 publics school districts, three vocational-technical, numerous private, parochila and special schools. Institutes of higher learning include: Bucks County Community College, Delaware Valley College of Sciences and agriculture, Philadelphia College of Bible, Holy Family college, and LaSalle University satellite. |
| Healthcare: Frankford, Bucks County Campus, Temple University Health System: Lower Bucks , St. Mary Medical Center, Doylestown, Grandview, St Luke's and Warminster Hospital. Neshaminy Manor Home is the County's skilled geriatric nursing home. |
| Transportation: Highways- 1,500 miles of state roads, including Interstate 95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and U.S. Routes 1,13, 202.
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| Public Transportation - the Southeastern Pennsylvania transportation Authority provides daily bus service on nine routes and four commuter railroad lines in the county. Amtrak's Keystone Line Service is also accessible via the Middletown station.
Air The Bucks County Airport Authority operates the Quakertown and Doylestown Airports. Two privately owned public use aviation airports, VanSant and Pennridge. |
| Agriculture: 351 farms cover 83,534 acres of land areas. The county ranks high in the sate in nursery and greenhouse stock, and sod production. |
| Commerce: Historically, most commerce has been centered in boroughs and at the crossroads of major transportation routes. Today, there are more than 50- shopping centers with more than 100,000 square feet of floor space. Large, regional centers located in the county are Oxford Valley Mall and Neshaminy Mall, villages at Newtown, and the Warminster Town Center. |
| Industry: Employment is primarily provided by the services, retail trade, and manufacturing and industrial sectors. More than 78 industrial parks are located throughout the county. In 1999, over 323,200 people made up the Bucks County labor force. |
| Housing: In 1999, it was estimated that there were more than 222,000 housing units in the county, ranging from centuries - old farmhouses to contemporary solars. Also available are apartments, townhouse, mobile homes and historic mansions, as well as typical suburban, single-family homes. | |
2a BUCKS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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BUCKS COUNTY POCKET FACTS 20002a. BUCKS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, Pocket Facts Rev 1/02
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| Population: 2000, Approximately 600,000 people reside in Bucks County, a 10T increase over the 1990 population. |
| Area: Land - 608 square miles Water: 15.8 square miles |
| Government: Bucks County is a Class 2A County, 23 boroughs and 31 townships
Three commissioners, Clerk of Courts, controller, Coroner, District Attorney, Judy Commissioners, Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds, Register of wills, Sheriff and Treasurer |
| Judiciary: The Bucks County Court of Common Pleas is comprised of 11 judges who are elected to 10 year terms with 10-year, voter-approved retention. The county also has a minor judiciary of 18 district justices with limited jurisdiction.
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| Recreation: The Bucks County parks and Recreation Department maintains 23 park areas totaling approximately 8,000 acres, including five lakes up to 365 acres in size,. Four parks are located along the Delaware River. The County has 4,318 acres of state gameland. In addition, seven state parks are located in the county.
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| Historic Sites:Bucks County is famous nationwide for its historic sites. Three notable are
- Washington Crossing Historic Park
- The Mercer Museum
- Pennsbury Manor
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| Schools: Bucks County 13 public school districts, three vocational-technical schools and numerous private, parochial and special schools. Bucks County Schools' Intermediate Unit #22 maintains a current listing of all educational institutions located in the county.
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| Healthcare: Hospitals located in the county are: Frankford Hospital, Bucks County Campus; Temple University Health System; Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol; St. Mary Medical Center, Langhorne; Doylestown Hospital; Grand View Hospital, Sellersville; St. Luke's Quakertown Hospital; and Warminster Hospital. Neshaminy Manor is the county's skilled geriatric nursing home.
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| Transportation: The County is traversed by more than 1,500 miles of state roads including Interstate 95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and U.S. Route 1,13 and 202. PA Routes 309, 611 and 132 provide arterial links to other areas of the region.
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| Agriculture: Approximately 350 farms cover 83,534 acres of land area.
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| Commerce:Historically, most commerce has been centered in boroughs and at the crossroads of major transportation routes. Today, there are more than 50 shopping centers with more than 100,000 square feet of floor space. large, regional centers located in the county are Oxford Valley Mall and Neshaminy Mall, the Court at Oxford Valley, Village at Newtown, and the Warminster Town Center.
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| Industry:Employment is primarily provided by the services, retail trade, and manufacturing and industrial sectors. More than 78 industrial parks are located throughout the county. In 2002, over 334,200 people made up the Bucks County labor force.
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Bucks County Municipalities
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BUCKS COUNTY BELL 2a
The Bucks County Bell was forged in 1813 by the same foundry that cast the historic Liberty Bell which is on display in Independence National Park in Philadelphia. The price to cast the bell was $211.20 - a tidy sum in 1813. This four hundred pound, half-size replica of the famous original was presented to Bucks County government that year to hang in its new courthouse in the new county seat of Doylestown. The county seat had been changed from Newtown to Doylestown in order to be more centrally located.
Two consecutive courthouses housed the bell through 1960 where it had tolled the hour, half-hour and convening of court sessions. Lost during the demolition of the second courthouse in 1960, the bell was discovered in a Philadelphia junkyard and purchased by William F. Berry for $15,000. The bell remained in his East Falls home and was loaned to community organizations for fairs and parades.
In 1989, efforts were initiated to return the Bucks County Bell to the Bucks County Courthouse. Horace Collins, philanthropist and president of Philadelphia Rivet company of Doylestown purchased the bell for $15,000 with the intention of refurbishing it and returning it to Bucks County. The Bucks County Commissioners then formed an agreement with Joseph A.Braman, Jr., new owner and president of Philadelphia Rivet Company to provide a sui9table site for permanent display of the historic bell. Elementary school students from Central Bucks School District saved 43,965 pennies to offset the cost of the bell's wood frame which was crafted by bucks County Technical School students in the likeness of the Liberty Bell housing.
On March 15, 1995, after a 35 year absence, the Bucks county Bell returned home, where it remains on public display in the second floor lobby of the Bucks County Courthouse.
| Height: 23 inches |
| Circumference: 72.2 inches |
| Weight: 400 pounds |
| Frame Height: |
| Frame Weight: 1,000 pounds |
| Frame Wood: Ash |
| Inscription:"Edwin Hedderly Founder, Philadelphia 1813"
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