William Penn, a London native and the ultimate proprietor of Pennsylvania, officially founded Bucks County in 1682, naming the new area after Buckinghamshire, the Penn family estate in England. The are recognized as current-day Upper Bucks County remained virtually unsettled until the early 1700s when English Quakers began to establish settlements in what was a the time known as Richland and the Great Swamp.
Upper Bucks County holds the key to many pieces of vital American history. While no major Revolutionary War battle was fought on Bucks County soil, the area contributed significantly to the war's outcome. It was here that General George Washington rallied troops for the assault on Trenton in December 1776. The iconic Liberty Bell, in a wagon caravan used to escape past the approaching British Army, was hidden in Quakertown in September 1777 on its way to safety in Bethlehem. Upper Bucks was at the center of the 1798 Fries Rebellion--an armed tax revolt led by John Fries, a Pennsylvania farmer.
During the Civil War era, a home found along Main Street in Quakertown stood as a popular stop on the Underground Railroad. Much of Upper Bucks' rich heritage can still be experienced today. The palisades lining the river lend their name to the Palisades School District. The borough of Quakertown adopted its name from the English Quakers who settled the area, and surrounding Richland has kept its name as a reminder of the early settler's intial impression of a distinguished American Indian sanctuary. Nockamixon and Tinicum Townships are the only two areas in the county that have retained their original American Indian names (albeit corruptions: Nockamixion could mean "at the place of soft soil" while Tinicum could be an abbreviation for "along the edge of the island.")
The Upper Bucks region has worked hard to preserve its rural character in the face of continuous growth and development.