Bucks

Formed November 1, 1682 (3^rd county)

Bucks County (646,526), Doylestown (8,304), Bristol (9,864)

The Modern red brick and concrete facility was erected in 1962.  The structure is sited at the intersection of Court and Pine streets.  Pennsylvania State Highway 611 passes 10 blocks to the southwest of the facility.  Carroll, Grisdale & Van Allen are the building designers.  A Justice Center was added in 2015.  There were also 1812 and 1878 courthouses in Doylestown, the only county seat.  The county was established on November 1, 1682 as an original county (3^rd county.)  It is named for Buckinghamshire, England.  Doylestown is named for settler William Doyle.  Bucks County is the birthplace of 1 Pennsylvania governor, Mark S. Schweiker. 

Bucks County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fifteen Common Pleas Court Judges and Eighteen Magistrate Court Judges serve Bucks County (judicial.)  The county is on the southeast border with New Jersey.  The Delaware River forms its eastern border.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is directly south and Allentown, Pennsylvania is northwest of the county.  The county center is 7.9 miles East-Southeast of Doylestown nearer Wrightstown.  The county is surrounded clockwise by New Jersey and Philadelphia, Montgomery, Lehigh, and Northampton counties. 

The area of the county is 622 square miles.  It is 36 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 4 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1039.4 persons per square mile making it 6 out of 67 in the state.  Bucks County has 13.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 enters the county from the east, New Jersey, and exits to the south, Philadelphia County.  Interstate Highway 476 comes from Lehigh County, north, and goes into Montgomery County, southwest.  United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from New Jersey to Philadelphia County.  United States Highway 13 enters from New Jersey and exits into Philadelphia County.  United States Highway 202 comes from New Jersey and goes into Montgomery County.  The county resembles a cowboy boot.  Doylestown is near the center of the county.  Bristol is on the southeast border across from Trenton, New Jersey.  Doylestown is the county seat and Bristol is the largest city.  Doylestown is 1.3% of the county population while Bristol is 1.5% of the county population.  This county is in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.