To its southwest, Bucks County bordersMontgomery County andPhiladelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city. To its east, the county borders theDelaware River and U.S. state ofNew Jersey. To its north, the county bordersLehigh andNorthampton counties in the state'sLehigh Valley region. The county is approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast ofAllentown, the state's third-largest city, and 40 miles (64 km) north of Philadelphia, the state's largest city.
Bucks County is one of the three original counties created by colonial proprietorWilliam Penn in 1682. Penn named the county afterBuckinghamshire, the county in which he lived in England; "Bucks." is the traditional abbreviation for the English county, which became the actual name of the Pennsylvania one. He built a country estate,Pennsbury Manor, inFalls Township in present-day Bucks County.
Some places in Bucks County were named after locations in Buckinghamshire, including Buckingham andBuckingham Township, named after the formercounty town of Buckinghamshire; Chalfont, named afterChalfont St Giles, the parish home of William Penn's first wife and the location of the Jordans Quaker Meeting House, where Penn is buried;Solebury, named afterSoulbury, England; andWycombe, named after the town ofHigh Wycombe.
Bucks County was originally much larger than it is today.Northampton County was formed in 1752 from part of Bucks County, andLehigh County was formed in 1812 from part of Northampton County.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 622 square miles (1,610 km2), of which 604 square miles (1,560 km2) is land and 18 square miles (47 km2) (2.8%) is water.[4]
The southern third of the county betweenPhiladelphia andTrenton, New Jersey, often called Lower Bucks, resides in theAtlantic Coastal Plain; it is flat and near sea level, and is the county's most populated and industrialized area.
As of the 2000 census, there were 218,725 households, and 160,981 families residing in the county. There were 225,498 housing units at an average density of 371 per square mile (143/km2). 20.1% were ofGerman, 19.1%Irish, 14.0%Italian, 7.5%English and 5.9%Polish ancestry.
There were 218,725 households, out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.70% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.70% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $59,727, and the median income for a family was $68,727. Males had a median income of $46,587 versus $31,984 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $27,430. About 3.10% of families and 4.50% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 4.80% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.
Growth began in the early 1950s, whenWilliam Levitt chose Bucks County for his second "Levittown". Levitt bought hundreds of acres of woodlands and farmland, and constructed 17,000 homes and dozens of schools, parks, libraries, and shopping centers. By the time the project was completed, the population of Levittown had swelled to nearly 74,000 residents. At the time, only whites could buy homes. This rule however, was soon overturned. Other planned developments includedCroydon andFairless Hills. This rapid sprawl continued until the mid-1960s.
In the 1970s, the county experienced a second growth spurt as developers expanded in previously underdeveloped townships, includingMiddletown,Lower Makefield,Northampton, andNewtown townships.Tract housing, office complexes, shopping centers, and sprawling parking lots continued to move more and more towards Upper Bucks, swallowing horse farms, sprawling forests, and wetlands.Oxford Valley Mall was constructed in Middletown, and became a retail nucleus in the county.
In the late 20th century, growth somewhat stabilized as development was completed in the county's historically underdeveloped areas, leaving little new area to be further developed.
Bucks County areas along theDelaware River have surpluses of abandoned industry, so many municipalities have granted building rights to luxury housing developers. As the regions that began the suburban boom in Bucks County, such as Levittown, have aged, commercial strips and other neglected structures have been torn down and replaced with new shopping plazas and commercial chains. With rising property values, areas with older construction are undergoing a renaissance, and Central and Upper Bucks have continued to experience rapid growth, with many municipalities doubling their populations since the late 20th century.
As of 2013, the population of Bucks County was 626,976, making it the fourth-most populous county in the state behindPhiladelphia,Allegheny, andMontgomery counties.[9]
Among Bucks' largest employers in the twentieth century wereU.S. Steel inFalls Township, and the Vulcanized Rubber & Plastics and Robertson Tile companies in Morrisville.Rohm and Haas continues to operate several chemical plants around Bristol.Waste Management operates alandfill inTullytown that is the largest receptacle of out-of-state waste in the USA (receiving much of New York City's waste following the closure of Fresh Kills landfill inStaten Island, New York 40 miles (64 km) away).[citation needed]
Bucks is also experiencing rapid growth inbiotechnology, along with neighboringMontgomery County. TheGreater Philadelphia area consistently ranks in the top 10 geographic clusters for biotechnology and biopharma.[11] It is projected by 2020 that one out of four people in Bucks County will work in biotechnology.
Another important asset of the county is tourism. The county's northern regions, colloquially referred to as Upper Bucks, are known for their natural scenery, farmland, colonial history, and proximity to major urban areas, includingPhiladelphia,New York City,Allentown,Reading, andAtlantic City, each of which is within a two-hour driving radius.
Bucks County is home to twelvecovered bridges. Ten are still open to vehicular traffic; two others, located in parks, are open only to non-vehicular traffic. All Bucks County bridges use theTown truss design. Schofield Ford Bridge, inTyler State Park, was reconstructed in 1997 from the ground up after arsonists destroyed the original in 1991.[12]
The Bucks County public schools listed above are served by a regional educational service agencycalled theBucks County Intermediate Unit #22 located in the county seat ofDoylestown.
The county boasts many localtheater companies, including the long-established and recently reopenedBucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Town and Country Players in Buckingham, ActorsNET in Morrisville, and the Bristol Riverside Theatre, a professional Equity theater in Bristol. The Bucks County Symphony, founded in 1953, performs in Doylestown throughout the year and the Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society, founded in 2009, performs a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta with full orchestra each June.
TheWild River Review, an online magazine that publishes in-depth reporting, works of literature, art, visual art, reviews, interviews, and columns by and about contemporary artists, photographers, and writers, is based out of Doylestown.
The 2002 filmSigns was primarily filmed in Bucks County, with the scenes of the house and cornfield shot at Delaware Valley University inDoylestown. Other locations within Bucks County includedNewtown for the bookstore and pizza shop scenes, andMorrisville for the pharmacy scene.
Local print publications includeBucks County Courier Times,The Intelligencer,The Advance of Bucks County,Bucks County Herald,Bucks County Town and Country Living,Radius Magazine,Yardley Voice,Morrisville Times,Newtown Gazette,Northampton Herald,Langhorne Ledger,Lower Southampton Spirit,New Hope News,Doylestown Observer,Warwick Journal,Fairless Focus. Online news publications are Levittown Now,Bucks County Beacon, NewtownPANow, Bucks Happening, New Hope Free Press.WBCB is a local radio news station.
TheBucks County Sharksrugby league team played in theAMNRL from 1997 to 2010 season.[22] They returned to play in the AMNRL in 2011, until the league's fold in 2014, when they subsequently joined theUSARL.[23]
The county has a considerable history of producingLittle League baseball contenders. Since its inception in 1947, four of the seven Pennsylvania teams to compete in theLittle League World Series inWilliamsport, Pennsylvania have come from Bucks County:Morrisville (1955),Levittown American (1960 and1961), andCouncil Rock-Newtown (2005). Two of these squads, Morrisville and Levittown (1960), went on to win the World Series title. In 2007, Council Rock Northampton won the PA State championship, and lost in the finals of regionals.
Bucks County Parks and Recreation operates an 18-bedyouth hostel in the Nockamixon State Park Weisel estate. The hostel is part ofHostelling International USA.[24]
Summerseat, also known as the George Clymer House and Thomas Barclay House, is a historic house museum inMorrisville, built about 1765. It is the only house known to have been owned by two signers of theDeclaration of Independence, George Clymer and Robert Morris, and as a headquarters of General George Washington from December 8 to 14, 1776, prior to Washington's attack in theBattle of Trenton.
Pennsbury Manor house and grounds, the home ofWilliam Penn, founder and firstGovernor of Pennsylvania, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in association with the Pennsbury Society and are open to the public.[27]
Like most of the Philadelphia suburbs, Bucks County was once a stronghold for theRepublican Party. However, in recent years it has become more of aswing county, like Pennsylvania at large.
In presidential elections, Bucks County has been caught up in the overallDemocratic trend that has swept the Philadelphia area, although the trend in Bucks has been less pronounced than in Delaware and Montgomery counties. It went Democratic in every presidential election from 1992 to 2020, though by a margin of less than 5% in each except for 2008, with three of those eight elections decided by less than 2% (1992, 2012, and 2016). In 2024,Donald Trump flipped the county with a victory margin of 0.07% or 291 votes. Prior to this Republicans won the county all but thrice between 1896 and 1988 (except in 1912, 1936, and 1964). Unlike most other suburban Philadelphia counties, Bucks County consistently voted Democratic during theCivil War era, only voting Republican twice between 1856 and 1892, in 1860 and 1872.
The executive government is run by a three-seat board of commissioners, one member of which serves as chairperson. Commissioners are elected throughat-large voting and serve four-year terms. In cases of vacancy, a panel of county judges appoints members to fill seats. The current commissioners are Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia (D) (chairwoman), Robert "Bob" J. Harvie Jr. (D) (Vice-chairman), andGene DiGirolamo (R). The current terms expire in January 2028.[32] In 2012, four county employees were sentenced for compensating public employees for political work on behalf of Republican candidates.[33]
In the 2016 elections, DemocratsHillary Clinton (President),Josh Shapiro (Attorney General), andJoe Torsella (State Treasurer) won Bucks County while RepublicansPat Toomey (U.S. Senate), Brian Fitzpatrick (U.S. Representative), and John Brown (Auditor General) won Bucks County in their respective races.[34]
The 2024 elections were mired in controversy in Bucks County, culminating in widespread condemnation of Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia (D), who was filmed on video stating that the "rule of law doesn't matter anymore in this country" in the context of a decision made by the county's Board of Elections to violate the PA State Supreme Court's ruling regarding which provisional ballots can and cannot be counted.[35]
The current Bucks County Sheriff is Frederick "Fred" A. Harran.[38] Three members of the Sheriff's Office have died in the line of duty. One was shot and two others died in traffic accidents. The first, Sheriff Abram Kulp was murdered in February 1927.[39]
Map of Bucks County, Pennsylvania with municipal labels showing boroughs (in red), townships (in white), and census-designated places (in blue)
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:cities,boroughs,townships, and, in at most two cases,towns. The most populous borough in the county is Morrisville with 10,023 as of the 2000 census. The following boroughs and townships are located in Bucks County:
Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by theU.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.
According to theTrewartha climate classification system, thePiedmont (United States) section of Bucks County, which is located roughly northwest ofU.S. Route 1, has a Temperate Continental Climate with hot and slightly humid summers, cold winters and year-around precipitation (Dcao). Dcao climates are characterized by at least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ 32.0 °F (0 °C), four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10 °C), at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ 72.0 °F (22 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. According to theKöppen climate classification system, the climate is a hot-summer, wet all year,humid continental climate (Dfa). During the summer months in the Piedmont, episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur withheat index values > 102 °F (39 °C). The average wettest month is July which corresponds with the annual peak inthunderstorm activity.
During the winter months, episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur withwind chill values < −16 °F (−27 °C). Theplant hardiness zone at Haycock Mountain, elevation 968 ft (295 m), is 6b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −4.6 °F (−20 °C).[41] The average seasonal (Nov-Apr) snowfall total is between 26 and 36 inches (66 and 91 centimetres) depending on elevation and distance from the Atlantic Ocean. The average snowiest month is February which correlates with the annual peak innor'easter activity. Some areas of the Piedmont farther south and along the river below New Hope are in hardiness zone 7a, as is the Atlantic Coastal Plain region of Bucks.
Climate data for Haycock Twp. Elevation: 735 ft (224 m). 1981-2010 Averages (1981-2018 Records)
According to theTrewartha climate classification system, theAtlantic coastal plain section of Bucks County, which is located roughly southeast ofU.S. Route 1 has a Temperate Oceanic Climate with hot and slightly humid summers, cool winters and year-around precipitation (Doak). Doak climates are characterized by all months having an average mean temperature > 32.0 °F (0 °C), four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10 °C), at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ 72.0 °F (22 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. According to theKöppen climate classification, this region has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa). During the summer months in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur withheat index values > 110 °F (43 °C). The average wettest month is July which corresponds with the annual peak inthunderstorm activity. During the winter months, episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur withwind chill values < −7 °F (−22 °C). Theplant hardiness zone in Andalusia, Bensalem Twp, elevation 16 ft (4.9 m), is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 3.0 °F (−16 °C).[41] The average seasonal (Nov-Apr) snowfall total is between 24 and 26 inches (61 and 66 centimetres) depending on elevation and distance from the Atlantic Ocean. The average snowiest month is February which correlates with the annual peak innor'easter activity.
Climate data for Andalusia, Bensalem Twp. Elevation: 16 ft (4.9 m). 1981-2010 Averages (1981-2018 Records)
According to theA. W. Kuchler U.S.potential natural vegetation types, Bucks County, Pennsylvania would have a dominant vegetation type of AppalachianOak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of EasternHardwood Forest (25).[45]
The traditional seal of Bucks County, Pennsylvania takes its design from the inspiration of the county's founder,William Penn. The center of the seal consists of a shield from the Penn family crest with a tree above and a flowering vine surrounding it in symmetric flanks. The seal has a gold-colored background and a green band denoting Penn as the county's first proprietor and governor.
In 1683, Penn's council decreed that a tree and vine be incorporated into the emblem to signify the county's abundance of woods. The seal was used in its official capacity until the Revolutionary War. The county government has since used the official Pennsylvania state seal for official documents. Today, the Bucks County seal's use is largely ceremonial. It appears on county stationery and vehicles as a symbol of the county's heritage. The gold emblem is also the centerpiece of the official Bucks County flag, which has a blue background and gold trim.
^Includes Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Lehigh and Northampton Counties
^"PHMC Historical Markers Search".Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Archived fromthe original(Searchable database) on March 21, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2014.
^Laura King Van Dusen, "Samuel Hartsel: 1860s Pioneer Rancher, One of Colorado's First Cattlemen. Founded Town of Hartsel",Historic Tales from Park County: Parked in the Past (Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013),ISBN978-1-62619-161-7, pp. 21–27
"County and Local History: Bucks",Writings on Pennsylvania history; a bibliography, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1946, p. 379 – via Internet Archive
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