Spires in the Distance
Moving the county seat from Newtown to Doylestown in 1813 led to the noticeable historic architecture and present day prosperity of what began as a very plain rural village
Written by Jeffrey Marshall
Four hundred forty seven feet above sea level, Doylestown’s courthouse, church spires and the roof peaks of the Mercer Museum can be seen for miles around. As the county seat of Bucks County, it is appropriate that the town is situated near the geographic center of Bucks County. In fact being centrally located and on a crossroads was a major argument for moving the county seat from Newtown to the small village in 1813.
The town, situated at the crossing of the road to Swede’s Ford and Coryell’s Ferry and the road from Easton to Philadelphia, which later became Route 202 and Route 611, grew around a crossroads tavern in the 18th century. This tavern was first know as Doyle’s tavern and later the Fountain House Hotel. Today this building, which sported a French or Mansard roof since the 1880s, houses a Starbucks coffeehouse.
Historically, Doylestown is located at the hub of early settlement areas of Pennsylvania's primary cultural groups: the English Quakers, the Scotch-Irish, the Pennsylvania Germans and to a lesser extent, the Welsh Baptists. Doylestown's architecture draws on the influences of all these groups and while representing a prosperous community, its buildings still hold an air of conservatism generated, in part, from the these people.
Purchasing land in the 1730s Edward Doyle and his sons William and Clement moved here from along the Delaware River and by 1775 William Doyle obtained his first tavern license for a site on West Court Street, then New Britain Township. Within a decade he relocated his tavern “one block” closer to the crossroads in what was then Warwick Township. The surrounding land was farmland, dotted with farmhouses and barns. Research shows that there were at least ten farmsteads within the present borough boundaries.
One of the distinctions of the town’s early history is the fact that two of the owners of much of the center of the town, including the location of Doyle's second tavern were freed slaves. Jeremiah Langhorne, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a substantial landholder in Bucks County deeded approximately 300 acres from the present Hamilton Street one block west of the town’s main intersection extending easterly along Court Street to East Street to his two slaves Cudjo and Jo, who were to become free landholders after his death which was in 1712. This is one of the earliest documented examples of land owned by free blacks in the County. Soon after this date the men sold their property.
Doylestown played a small role in the American Revolution. After the long winter at Valley Forge, George Washington pursued the British army as it headed to New York. On Sunday, June 21, 1778, George Washington wrote; “At Doylestown: ‘The whole army is advancing to the Delaware. We have been much impeded by rain. The troops with General Lee crossed the river last night.’” The weather was very stormy, and the army remained here until the next afternoon, occupying three encampments: on the south side of State Street, west of Main, on the ridge east of the Presbyterian church, and along what is now State Street which was the road to New Hope. Since it was summer, Washington did not occupy a house, but reportedly pitched his tent near the dwelling of Jonathan Fell. It must have been quite a sight to inhabitants, since the army was accompanied by Seneca, Oneidas and Tuscarora warriors. The army resumed its march for the Delaware the afternoon of the 21st, and crossed at New Hope the next day.
Doylestown’s main place of business historically has always been the courthouse itself. Unlike many early Bucks County towns, it is not located along a stream or river and the lack of strong water power for early industry due to the land elevation clearly guided the town's growth and hence its physical appearance. In fact, the only major industrial complex within the town was the Doylestown Agricultural Works (now a redeveloped shopping and restaurant area near the railroad station).
It was the removal of the courthouse and county government from Newtown in the early 1800s that influenced Doylestown’s transformation from a country crossroads to large town. The move was the subject of years of debate. Beginning as early as 1784, a total of eight petitions requesting the removal of the county seat from Newtown to Doylestown were submitted to the Legislature without being acted upon. Because of the potential appreciation of land values that would follow such a move, it is not surprising that there were other sites competing for the designation of the county seat. On February 28, 1810 Governor Snyder signed an Act of Assembly authorizing the move of the county seat from Newtown to Doylestown. A year later bids were advertised for the erection of the courthouse and public buildings. On May 1813 the first court session was held in Doylestown.
Doylestown Township was the first Bucks County Township formed out of previously existing townships instead of being created out of wilderness land. Doylestown was made up in 1819 of portions of New Britain, Warwick and Buckingham Townships. By 1838 the borough of Doylestown was incorporated from the central core of the twenty-one year old township.
Surprisingly, the arrival of the courthouse did not spur the rapid burst of development land speculators had envisioned. Historian W. H. H. Davis marveled in his History of Doylestown Old and New, “A community that waits fifteen years before planting trees on the grounds of its public buildings and erecting a fence around them, is conservative to the point of lacking public spirit.” A boom had long been anticipated, but it did not come until the decade had expired and the century turned into the 30s.”
The Civil War touched Doylestown when W. W. H. Davis began raising the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment composed primarily of Bucks County residents in 1861. On May 31, 1862, the 104th the regiment was at the front of General McClellan's Army near Richmond Virginia. According to Bucks County Civil War Round Table Library & Museum, “The 104th became engaged in a fierce struggle against the counterattacking defenders of that Southern city. Facing overwhelming odds and lacking support, the104th was driven back across the casualty-strewn field. In the confusion the regimental colors were left behind. Colonel Davis seeing this, organized a squad to retrieve the flags before they could fall into enemy hands. A mad dash followed by close combat yielded the colors to the men of the 104th, but not before Davis and others were wounded. This heroic struggle led to the decoration of Hiram Purcell with the Medal of Honor. One can visit the Civil War Library & Museum at 32 North Broad Street.
There appears to have been little concessions made in the layout of the town for the public buildings. Contrary to other county seats, there were no planned center squares or grand avenues radiating out from the courthouse. In fact, Bucks County’s new courthouse was not even placed in the very center of the town. The public buildings were built on the end of a triangular piece of ground one block from the main intersection between the Easton Road and Academy Lane, which was later renamed Court Street. The only distinguishing feature of the courthouse site, and taken advantage of by the later court buildings, was its location on the highest point of land in the area, commanding vistas reaching far into the surrounding countryside.
Quite obviously, the courthouse sets Doylestown apart from the surrounding region. However, the most distinguishing elements of the town are the collection of remarkable buildings designed by Doylestown’s eccentric genius Dr. Henry Mercer in the early 20th century.
Doylestown has block after block of well preserved historic houses from the nineteenth and twentieth century. Like most towns, they were the work of local builders who used elements from the prevailing architectural styles of the day. Interspaced throughout the town are a number of distinctive buildings designed by skilled architects including Addison Hutton, Thomas Cernea, A. Oscar Martin as well as the self-taught architect, Henry Mercer.
The former courthouse and Bucks County Prison and the Doylestown Presbyterian Church were all designed by Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton. Bucks County’s own native architect, Thomas Cernea, designed the Christian Scientist Church—H. T. Darlington House 1878, Ruckman House circa 1870.
Today stores and offices are concentrated in Doylestown’s vibrant downtown center along Main Street and State Street. The massing and density of these structures is relieved by the variety of distinct architectural styles with, in many cases, the close proximity creating complimentary juxtaposition of form and detail. As streets extend out from the town’s center the buildings become more uniform in scale, spacing, fenestration and style, which creates a comfortable “sense of place” towns often seek to find.
Across the street from the courthouse on Court Street is Lawyer’s Row, a collection of Federal style buildings that were a direct result of the presence of the courthouse. Some of the buildings retain their original conservative appearance while others were renovated throughout the years to keep up with current architectural trends. On the opposite side of the courthouse from the other lawyer’s offices was the home and office of Judge Henry Chapman now known as the James-Lorah House.
In a short expanse from the courthouse square down Main Street to the Mercer Museum, one can encounter the classic Greek temple designed Hart Bank (now 9 Main St), built in 1850 on North Main Street, the Italianate influenced Lenape Hall and Doylestown Intelligencer Building, built in 1874 and 1876, respectively as well as a group of eclectic Queen Anne style houses.
Down the hill from the courthouse are the Mercer Museum and former county jail. Doylestown’s County Jail, built in 1885 demonstrates the liveliness of combining Gothic, Norman, Romanesque, Italianate and Chateauesque styles—all of which have been incorporated into the highly acclaimed Michener Art Museum.
Located just outside of downtown Doylestown is the Tudor Revival mansion known as Aldie Mansion, built in 1927 by William Mercer, the younger brother of Henry Mercer. After years of abandonment and vandalism, the building has been restored by Heritage Conservancy and is used as their offices and is available for rental for weddings and community events.
By late nineteenth century the conservative rectangular house form was broken by the freer Queen Anne-Eastlake style houses. Doylestown has a handful of fine examples of this period including the Charles E. Meyers House—1887 Nathan James House on Main Street.
One of the town’s most picturesque houses is the Doylestown Cemetery’s caretaker’s house on Court Street. It was one of the first homes to display the decorative qualities of wood with its elaborate jigsaw cut porches. The same porch can still be found on a building on South Main Street and one on East State Street. Today, ornate porches highlight many houses in the town’s different neighborhoods.
A second major period of growth for Doylestown occurred in the decades of the 1870s and 1880s. It was this period which transformed the town in size and design with a burst of building concurrent with the general trend of urbanization in the Delaware Valley. In Doylestown this prosperity led to the rapid growth of both residential and industrial buildings as well as the erection of important public buildings to befit the seat of government of a growing, prosperous county.
To distinguish this period of prominence were a number of buildings from the 1850s through the 1930s designed by architects, Addison Hutton and Thomas Cernea. They designed buildings of monumental scale arriving in quick succession that undeniably heralded Doylestown into the Victorian age.
Thomas Cernea of Buckingham, a prominent local architect who practiced with Hutton, is credited with designing an addition to Titus-Chapman-Lyman House c.1871, the Darlington Mansion- c.1877, the Ruckman Mansion and alterations to St. Paul’s in 1870 which included adding a bell tower, vestry and chancel. All of these were done in brownstone. His most noteworthy buildings were the Intelligencer Building and with Addison Hutton, the Lenape Hall. Both landmarks are of brick with stone detailing and reflect a play of classical, Italianate and Victorian motifs. His versatility as an architect is shown in the Hart Bank which with the portico is a study in Classical design and proportion.
Following in the next generation of architects and in design concepts was A. Oscar Martin of Doylestown who began his local practice in 1896. In an age reacting to the frivolities of the Victorian, Martin’s quality traditional style, which incorporated tasteful architectural details onto a substantial masonry rectangular house with symmetrical fenestration, was well received by Doylestown. Today, it is easy to recognize Martin’s work as a precursor to the Prairie Style and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Without a doubt, Dr. Henry Mercer contributed the most unique architecture to Doylestown. His fanciful reinforced concrete buildings are excellent examples of the early twentieth century Arts and Crafts reaction to the machine age and the uniformity of manufactured building materials. His buildings are hand-molded Gothic, Norman, Medieval and Spanish Colonial sculptures which for many years stood ridiculed because of their lack of symmetry and tradition. Today Mercer’s buildings, of which the Mercer Museum is one, are among Doylestown’s architectural contributions to the nation.
The influence of Mercer and Hutton as architects and the general cultural atmosphere of the county seat have presented Doylestown's affect on the overall region, the state, and in the case of Mercer, even nationwide. Despite the variety of architectural styles and building materials in Doylestown, the town very effectively conveys a sense of architectural and historical cohesiveness and a strong sense of time and place. u
Jeffrey L. Marshall is a Bucks County historian and the president of the Heritage Conservancy.