Love Bucks County?

Please read our statement below regarding the Hart Tract.

Love Bucks County?

Please read our statement below regarding the Hart Tract.

Bucks County Cultural Society Position on Hart Tract

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2026 Bucks County Cultural Society Statement Regarding The Hart Tract Property Located at 2250 S. Easton Road Doylestown Township, Pennsylvania

HILLTOWN, PA–Bucks County Cultural Society understands that Bucks County Historical Society (BCHS) intends to divest itself of the Hart Tract. It is our opinion that the action currently supported by BCHS to affect this divestiture, a sale of the Hart Tract to a local developer seeking to build luxury residences on a portion of the property, is unethical.

Given the location of the Hart Tract, the development of the site as currently proposed would create an elevated risk to public safety that is not present at the current time. The development would also cause irreversible environmental damage, render an incalculable number of historical artifacts irrecoverable, and arguably result in the damage and destruction of culturally significant property that is currently entrusted to the care and stewardship of BCHS.

Supporting development that would pose undue risks to both the public and the environment is a position Bucks County Cultural Society views as antithetical to the current mission statement of the Bucks County Historical Society, the prior mission statement of BCHS, and the mission of BCHS at any particular point in the organization’s storied history.

There are other options to divest or monetize the Hart Tract that would not require unnecessary development. These options would arguably be safer and more profitable–or at least safer, better for the environment, and inline with existing laws, regulations, and the fiduciary obligations of the Bucks County Historical Society.

Bucks County Cultural Society

Lela Mercer to Her Excellency Lady Cartwright.

Our Mission & Vision:

Mission

We support continued preservation of cultural, environmental, genealogical, and historical information-along with relevant artifacts and real property-in a manner that will enhance the public's knowledge of Bucks County's cultural heritage.

Vision

Bucks County Cultural Society endeavors to be the leader in uniting and preserving diverse facets of our county's cultural heritage for both present and future generations.

Bucks County Cultural Society in Print: Articles & Letters

2025

Publishing the names of slaves out of respect

Publication: Bucks County Herald

Date: February 20, 2025

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

2024

Cultural society launches Keep Bucks In Bucks campaign

Publication: Bucks County Herald

Date: September 19, 2024

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

Preserve the General Greene Inn in Buckingham

Publication: Bucks County Herald

Date: March 21, 2024

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

2023

From the Desk of the Bucks County Cultural Society:

The Blizzard of '88

Publication: Hilltown Historical Society Newsletter

Date: April 2023

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

2022

Bucks County Cultural Society is chasing a 'ghost'*

Publication: The Intelligencer

Date: February 6, 2022

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

*Article was initially mistitled by the paper, as it was originally published in print (before being corrected online) with the following title:

Help the Bucks County Historical Society pursue a 'ghost'

Our county's history is worth preserving*

Publication: Bucks County Herald

Date: March 10, 2022

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

*Article was mistitled by the paper, as it printed country instead of county.

To avoid confusion about the content of this article, a corrected title appears on this page.

Franklin Fund loan helped launch Bucks' first newspaper

Publication: The Intelligencer

Date: July 17, 2022

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

2021

Letter to the Editor: Response to 'Tile Works deal lacks clarity'

Publication: The Intelligencer

Date: April 07, 2021

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

Letter to the Editor: Red Lion Inn's history doesn't have to fade

Publication: The Intelligencer

Date: October 17, 2021

Writer: Jonathan Neuber

How You Can Help

Our nonprofit is constantly looking for unique items that help illustrate Bucks County's rich cultural heritage.

Do you have something you would like to donate to our collections? Please contact us and briefly describe what you would like to donate. This can be accomplished by emailing us at: info@buckscountyculturalsociety.org

If approved, you will be able to mail your donation directly to us. In certain cases, we may be able to arrange for an in person pickup of your donation.

Bucks County Cultural Society appreciates all requests to donate items to our collections. However, due to limited space, we cannot accommodate every request. For this reason we can only accept unsolicited correspondence and financial donations via mail and not unsolicited donations of physical items.

Bucks County Cultural Society

We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All contributions made to our organization are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. To make a financial contribution, please click the button below.

Donate

Bucks County Cultural Society Board of Directors

Jonathan Neuber, President

Jonathan Neuber founded the Bucks County Cultural Society. He also set up the Neuber Endowment for the Advancement of Physically Disabled Bucks County Residents, a scholarship open to qualifying students attending BCCC. He is a 2018 graduate of Delaware Valley University and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in financial services. He is the owner of Taggart Neveling Books Ephemera, LLC and currently resides in Upper Bucks County with his pet cat Thomas. A long term Bucks County resident, Mr. Neuber has spent over a decade rescuing items that help tell the story of Bucks County's rich cultural heritage.

Ray O'Brien, Vice President

Jonathan Neuber, President

Ray O'Brien was born in Manhattan and raised in New York's South Bronx. He has degrees in geography, geology, art history, and environmental studies from Lehman College (CUNY), McGill University in Canada, and Rutgers University where he received his doctorate. He has taught at the City University of New York and at Pennsylvania's Bucks County Community College (where he is a professor emeritus). He has lived and worked in Bucks for almost 50 years. His research interests in the county's landscape(s), architecture, and folklore, led to the publication of Bucks County, A Journey Through Paradise in 1988 and The Story of Bucks County in 2015.

Debra Lee O'Brien, Director

Jonathan Neuber, President

Debra Lee O'Brien, Director

Debra Lee O'Brien is a life long resident of Bucks County, born and raised in Levittown, PA. A Bishop Conwell High School graduate, she also attended Bucks County Community College.

After various jobs from assembly line worker at Whitman Chocolates (Yes, like the "I Love Lucy" episode!) to payroll secretary for Toys R' Us stores, she returned to BCCC and graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts.

For ten years, Debra was a single parent which, was both challenging and rewarding. This experience brought her to her most fulfilling position: a teacher's aide at BCCC's Early Learning Center.

Debra is an avid collector of vintage Valentines and Halloween ephemera. Since retiring, she enjoys traveling with her geographer husband.

Keeping Bucks in Bucks: A Message from Our Board

It is easy to think of our county's cultural heritage, along with the various elements that give it definition, as being something society will always have access to without more effort than a trip to a museum, historical society, or similar institution. A wealth of online research reinforces this feeling of security. However, some of the most important pieces of our cultural heritage are only one event from being irreparably fragmented or lost to time. If that happens, no amount of effort will be able to retrieve or restore them for future generations.

Bucks County Cultural Society serves to fill the gap between what other institutions are able to provide, due to their current priorities and diverse mission statements, and what still needs to be accomplished to secure Bucks County's rich cultural heritage. Although we have a county historical society, its holdings cover a broader geographic area. While we have many local historical societies, their operations are largely tethered to specific geographic regions within Bucks County.

Our mission is solely focused on Bucks County and proactively working with individuals, businesses, and institutions that share a common desire to preserve the county's rich cultural heritage. As our Vice President Ray O'Brien eloquently wrote on the back of his 2015 book, The Story of Bucks County: BUCKS, JUST BUCKS PLEASE!

CONTACT US

Our Hilltown Township headquarters, which has a Hatfield mailing address, is being used for administrative purposes. We rent climate controlled storage space for our collections and donations, but are evaluating opportunities to expand to a location that will allow for onsite public access. Further inquires can be made via email at:

info@buckscountyculturalsociety.org

General correspondence and financial donations can be mailed to the following address:

Bucks County Cultural Society

PO Box 309

Hilltown, PA 18927

Bucks County Cultural Society is a member of:

Perkasie Historical Society.

Bucks County Cultural Society

PO Box 309 Hilltown, PA 18927