A new map spotlights Revolutionary War history in Bucks County

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Bucks County has launched an interactive map spotlighting its Revolutionary War history to celebrate the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Developed by the Bucks250PA Legacy Committee in partnership with the Bucks County Herald and Bucks County Planning Commission, the map — available in digital and print formats — includes information about more than a dozen historical sites connected to the American Revolution.

Terri Androutsos, vice chair of the Bucks250PA Commission, Jennifer Martin, executive director of Friends of Washington Crossing Park, Shirley Lee Corsey, founder and executive director of Gather Place Museum, and officials from County Commissioner Bob Harvie’s office worked together for two-and-a-half years to research and prepare the map.

“We were very conscious of what we put on there,” said Androutsos, who is also a member of the Bucks County chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. “We wanted to make sure every place had an experience for the visitor. We didn’t want to just send them to places, we wanted them to be meaningful.”

Several of the sites are lesser-known, hidden historical gems that don’t often get recognition, Androutsos said.

She cited the example of Moland House in Warminster Township, which at one point in 1777 served as Gen. George Washington’s headquarters.

“It’s a place you drive by all the time if you’re driving down York Road, and you see a French flag and an American flag, and you just don’t realize the importance of it, and I think that’s one of the things that is interesting,” she said.

For Androutsos, the history is also personal. Several of her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Some of them were Quakers and Baptists, she said, which was “highly unusual” at the time.

Learning about the Revolutionary War “bring[s] us back to our fundamentals as we are now as a nation,” Androutsos said.

“I can imagine that happening back in the Revolution, you know, people at the taverns, men, obviously men going to the taverns and discussing, you know, ‘Why would we do this?’” she said. “I can imagine people going into the Temperance House in Newtown and … saying, ‘Are you, are you doing this? Are you going to join? Are you taking the oath of allegiance?’”

The map also includes Heritage, Abolitionist and Lenape trails. For the Lenape Trail, the team worked with Katelyn Lucas, the historic preservation officer for the Delaware Nation, to ensure its historical accuracy.

Androutsos said she hopes the map serves as a research and educational tool that will endure beyond the 250th anniversary celebrations this year.

To that end, the commission plans to host an event in November for educators to provide resources about Revolutionary War history.

“We’re having this big celebration, but let’s help people learn about it, and we can help teachers a little bit. I think that goes a long way,” Androutsos said.