The Mercer Museum was designed by Henry Mercer specifically to house his collection, and despite its castle-like appearance it has always been a museum. Mercer believed a fireproof, waterproof concrete building would best preserve the collection. Construction began in 1913 with a crew of about eight workers who labored ten hours a day, six days a week, pouring the concrete section by section and level by level, including the roof. Though not trained as an architect, Mercer directed the work without blueprints, relying on sketches and verbal instructions. By 1916, his crew had completed the massive structure, the last of Mercer's three buildings, using 6,000 tons of concrete. The site changed over time as well: in 1907 the brick Elkins building was constructed as headquarters of the Bucks County Historical Society, the private non-profit that owns and operates the museum; in the 1930s a Research Library wing was added and later expanded in the 1970s; and in 2011 another expansion added a state of the art exhibition space and moved the entrance to the side of the building.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Doylestown, Pennsylvania · USA