History of Buckingham Township

    Bucks County is one of the three "Founder's Counties" defined and named by William Penn in 1682.  Land claimants soon filled the townships in the southernmost part of the county, and in or about 1700, Buckingham Township was opened to settlement.

   Physically, Buckingham is the biggest township in the county, covering 33 square miles.  Its geography is dominated by Buckingham Mountain which rises to a height of 520 feet, but its landscape is characterized by gently rolling countryside.  Blessed by many streams and rich soil, it has yielded bountiful harvests for 300 years.

   Prior to European settlement, this area was the home of the Lenni Lenape Indians, and many of our place names - Lahaska, Holicong and Neshaminy, for example - reflect the cadence of their language.  Coming at Penn's invitation, English and Welsh Quakers were the principal pioneers in the Township.  However, many German-speaking dissenters from high church orthodoxy were also early settlers in the county.  As a consequence, the wonderful old stone houses and barns so typical of Bucks County reflect both English and German architectural traditions.

   Agriculture has been Buckingham's principal industry since its founding, and the Township still retains a strong farm community.  However, since the mid-1970s, there has been a substantial shift in the landscape from rural to suburban.  New needs have accompanied the change in character.  The Township now provides public parks and recently purchased an additional 40 acres for needed sports fields.  The police force has increased threefold to serve a population that grew from almost 9,000 in 1980 to over 16,000 today.

   There are Buckingham families who have lived in the Township for generations, but most of us are more recent arrivals.  Nonetheless, old and new residents have been united in their desire to preserve the scenic and historic character of the Township.  In 1995, voters approved a referendum to borrow $4 million for the purchase of easements on Township farms that prevent their development forever.  In 1999, by an even greater margin of support, Buckingham residents approved a second referendum for $9.5 million for the purchase of park land and additional easements.

   There are 3,240 acres of Township farm fields, forests and streams that have now been preserved through the purchase of easements or gifts.  Everyone in Buckingham has benefited.

• The preservation of Buckingham's scenic and historic character enhances the value of all Township properties.
• Land preservation conserves the waters, woodlands and other natural resources of the Township.
• Land preservation supports a healthy farm economy which contributes to our quality of life in the Township and to a favorable tax flow.
• Land preservation saves the unending, ever-expanding costs of new schools and other services which the development of the protected farms would have required.

Last updated 04/16/2009