Bucks County
Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
One of Pennsylvania's three original counties. Formed 1682 by William Penn and site of his home, Pennsbury Manor. Name is derived from abbreviation for Buckinghamshire in England. Doylestown, chosen as county seat in 1812, was incorporated 1838.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Bucks County was one of the three counties William Penn carved out when he founded Pennsylvania in 1682, taking its name from Buckinghamshire, the English shire many of its early settlers left behind. Penn himself built his country estate, Pennsbury Manor, along the Delaware here, and the county grew into the agricultural heart of his Quaker colony. Doylestown, a crossroads town, was made the county seat in 1812 and incorporated as a borough in 1838.
Why it matters
As one of Pennsylvania's original three counties and the home of the colony's founder, Bucks County sits at the very beginning of Penn's 'holy experiment' in religious tolerance — a model that shaped the American ideal of freedom of conscience.
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Related people
- · William Penn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Casimir Sienkiewicz (1890-1974)
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