Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle

Many artifacts on display at the Mercer Museum have hidden histories – including tools as basic as corn grinders. Recent research has revealed more information about this corn quern on the fifth floor of the museum.

Museum records from 1918 note that the donor purchased this quern from Simons Vanderhorst Waring in South Carolina. In a letter to Mercer Museum curator Horace Mann in 1917, Waring related information about the quern's history from Butler Gibbs (1847-1939), an African-American man formerly enslaved on the South Carolina plantation of Waring's grandfather.

Gibbs stated that he made the wooden frame for this quern in 1880 or 1882, though the stones are much older, having been used in the slave quarters on the Waring plantation. According to Gibbs, "slave quarters on all plantations had two or three of these stones and each man ground his allowance of corn in them." Waring included a sketch of the quern in his letter to Mann.

This quern, like most querns generally, consists of an upper and lower stone with a pattern of burrs or cut grooves on their internal grinding surfaces. Grain was fed into an opening at the top of the upper stone, which was then turned on its axle using a pole inserted into an offset hole. As the top stone rotated, the grain entered the channels between the two stones and was ground into fine particles.

Learn more about our collections at mercermuseum.org/collections.

It’s the time of year to start planning field trips for school groups!

At the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle, students can experience hands-on programs and tours that educate and engage. Field trip programs are offered at both of our castles and feature interactive content and direct experience with original and reproduction artifacts.

To learn more and plan your field trip today, go to mercermuseum.org/education/school-youth-groups.

Nothing is more magical than exploring Fonthill Castle in the evening. Experience the magic for yourself during one of our Fonthill Castle Evening Tours!

During these intimate 45-minute guided tours of the castle’s unique rooms, discover Henry Mercer’s renowned ceramic tiles and storied collected artifacts.

Tours are currently available through April 2024. Tickets and dates can be found at mercermuseum.org/fonthillcastleeveningtours.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

In addition to his passion for tile making, collecting, and castle designing, Henry Mercer was an avid archaeologist.

Mercer explored many caves in his lifetime including trips to Tennessee and Texas, but, luckily for him, not all of his explorations required a long journey. This photograph from 1893 shows Mercer sitting in the mouth of Durham cave in Durham Township, Bucks County. Mercer is sitting on the top of the steps on the left hand side. Also pictured are Miss Evelyn L. Whitaker (sitting below Mercer), Mrs. George W. Whitaker (without hat), and Mrs. Sarah R. Fackenthal (with hat).

Mercer spent the entire fall of 1893 exploring this cave. Amongst his discoveries were animal bones, including the bones of black bears, moose, and catfish. His findings were compiled into a publication printed in 1897 titled “An Exploration of Durham Cave”. Notes on his findings can also be accessed in the Henry Chapman Mercer papers held in our archives at the Mercer Museum Research Library.

For more information about our archives, go to mercermuseum.org/collections/research-library.

Celebrate your special day one of our enchanting castles with our partners Jeffrey A. Miller Catering. With intimate and grand spaces available at both of our storybook locations, come create your lifelong memories with us.

Learn more at mercermuseum.org/rentals.

Photos by Denise Marie Photography

The Thomas Marshall papers, 1914-1961 has recently been added to the Mercer Museum Research Library archives. This collection consists mainly of personal and professional documents related to Thomas Marshall (1905-1979) and his work at Jericho Mountain Orchards.

Thomas Marshall was born on October 8, 1905, and owned Jericho Mountain Orchards, located at 138 Buckmanville Road, New Hope, Pennsylvania, from 1933 until his death.

Jericho Mountain Orchards was an operating farm and cidery that the Marshalls bought soon after getting married, the farm having been an operational commercial orchard for many years prior. The cidery did not use apples from Jericho Mountain Orchards itself, but from other local orchards in the area.

The collection contains farming or blooming charts from 1914-1930 for Van Ingen Orchard, Grim’s Orchard, Woodrow Wilson Orchard, Cyrus L. Orchard, and Briggs Orchard. The planting charts are a map of the types of trees planted in each orchard, and when said trees were planted. Each chart is comprised of symbols representing the trees, but the symbols vary slightly between charts. The blooming chart also shows how many of each type of tree bloomed in a year and whether they bloomed in April or May, with varieties such as Maiden Blush and Smith Cider represented.

For more information about our archives, go to mercermuseum.org/collections.

Judge registration is now open for the 2024 Bucks-Mont Regional National History Day contest!

The Bucks Mont Regional Competition of National History Day, coordinated by the Bucks County Historical Society, is an annual academic enrichment program for students that encourages thoughtful historical research, project-based learning, and a dose of friendly competition.

Volunteer judges are instrumental in providing feedback for student projects and helping students grow as researchers and budding historians.

Registration is open through Monday, February 12, 2024.

To learn more and to register now, go to mercermuseum.org/volunteerjudges.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Happy New Year! ✨️

The Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle will be closed from January 1 – January 15, 2024, reopening for the year on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.

To purchase tickets for the castles, go to mercermuseum.org/buytickets.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Ring in the New Year with a membership to the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle!

As this year brings new programs, new experiences, and a new major exhibition to our castles, membership is a great way to get the most out of the exciting things that 2024 will have to offer.

For year-round free admission to the castles, discounts on virtual and in-person programs, invitations to exclusive members-only events and more, become a member of the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle today at mercermuseum.org/support/membership.

First three photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Henry Mercer wanted modern conveniences at Fonthill Castle, which in the 1910s included indoor plumbing for his bathrooms. The cisterns in the first photograph, located atop a tower far beyond where visitors are normally allowed to tour, made that possible. During Mercer’s lifetime, water from an artesian well drilled underneath the castle’s West Spring Terrace was pumped up to these cisterns, which then provided gravity-fed water pressure to the bathrooms.

The artesian well that supplied the cisterns was drilled in 1915 by Dare & Wiley, Artesian Well Drillers from Hartsville, Pennsylvania, as shown in the first photograph from Percy H. Dare, a descendant of one of the company’s owners. A hit-and-miss engine, still in Fonthill Castle’s pump room underneath the West Spring Terrace and shown in the third photograph, powered a nearby pump that shuttled water through a pipe that extended through a chase in the tower wall and up to the cisterns.

Today, Fonthill is connected to city water, the cisterns have been drained, and water to most of the original bathrooms has been turned off. The old well, engine, and pump still at Fonthill Castle remain as artifacts of how the house worked during Mercer’s life.

To learn more about visiting Fonthill Castle, go to mercermuseum.org/buytickets.

This weekend is your final chance to experience the 2023 Holidays at Fonthill Castle! 🎄

Join us through Sunday, December 31, 2023 to explore Fonthill Castle decorated in full holiday grandeur with fifteen individually-themed Christmas trees and create a memorable seasonal experience for the whole family.

Buy your tickets for this weekend now at mercermuseum.org/holidays.

The 2023 Holidays at Fonthill Castle is generously sponsored by Bountiful Acres, The Tustin Group, Paganini Doylestown, Penn Community Bank, Pat Tagliolini, and National Associates Doylestown, Inc.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Last chance! Our two current exhibitions “Everyday Rhythms: Music at the Mercer” and “The Dusty Road to Doylestown Hospital: The Early Years of the Village Improvement Association” close this Sunday, December 31, 2023.

Stop by the Mercer Museum today to visit them before they are gone! Learn more about visiting and purchase your tickets now at mercermuseum.org/buytickets.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Winter may have just started, but we’re thinking about the summer here at the Mercer Museum!

Registration is now open for our 2024 Mercer Wizarding Academy Summer Camp! Young witches and wizards are invited to join Mercer Museum Education staff for a week-long half-day summer camp filled with magic and excitement. They will get sorted into their houses, prepare their wands, and enjoy classes in Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Quidditch, and more. This indoor-outdoor summer camp experience connects history, science, literature, and magic in a one-of-a-kind setting inside of the Mercer Museum and on its grounds.

To learn more and to register, go to mercermuseum.org/wizardingcamp.

Today marks the first day of Kwanzaa!

Join The PairUP Society and the Mercer Museum tomorrow, Wednesday, December 27, 2023 for a special interactive celebration of Kwanzaa with music, vendors, kids activities and programming, including a special presentation with Dr. Wanda Lewis-Campbell, Cultural Educator.

For more details, go to mercermuseum.org/kwanzaa.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 🎄

The Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle will be closed today. We will reopen this Tuesday, December 26, 2023.

Photos of Fonthill Castle by Kevin Crawford Imagery

Today, we are showing off a Christmas Eve classic!

180 years ago this month, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was published, and in Henry Mercer’s collection, you can find “Christmas Books”, a reprinted collection of Dickens stories that contains “A Christmas Carol” from the “The Life of Charles Dickens and his Works”, a 36 volume collection that Henry Mercer owned and was kept in the Library of Fonthill Castle. Pictured here are some of our favorite illustrations from the story.

For more information about our collections, go to mercermuseum.org/collections.

Don’t miss your chance to see Fonthill Castle decked out for the holidays this year! 🎄

Join us through Sunday, December 31, 2023 to explore Fonthill Castle decorated in full holiday splendor. Henry Chapman Mercer’s renowned estate features Mercer’s handcrafted ceramic tiles designed at the height of the Arts and Crafts movement. The castle is a brilliant early example of reinforced concrete architecture, with forty-four rooms, two hundred windows, and eighteen fireplaces!

Learn more about the different ways you can experience the castle and purchase your tickets today at mercermuseum.org/holidays.

The 2023 Holidays at Fonthill Castle is generously sponsored by Bountiful Acres, The Tustin Group, Paganini Doylestown, Penn Community Bank, Pat Tagliolini, and National Associates Doylestown, Inc.

Photos by Kevin Crawford Imagery

With the arrival of winter, we wanted to share some of Henry Mercer’s zodiac tiles for the season! Mercer had designed several styles of tiles inspired by zodiac signs including a series of small brocades and another series of impressed, 4” x 4” square tiles. The signs included here are:

◾️ Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
◾️ Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
◾️ Pisces (February 19 – March 19)

Many of these tiles can be found installed throughout Fonthill castle in the Map Room, the Dormer Bath, and the Wind Room. Mercer’s original drawn designs can be found in the Archives at the Mercer Museum Research Library.

To learn more about visiting the castle, go to mercermuseum.org/buytickets.

Happy First Day of Winter! ❄️

Experience the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle this season to explore our scenic castles in their snow-covered, cold weather wonder!

Go to mercermuseum.org/buytickets to learn more about visiting us today.

Interested in spending your summer at the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle? Apply today to our BLBB Charitable Internship program!

Our grant-funded, paid intern positions allow a dynamic group of students with varied interests, strengths, and goals to immerse themselves in an outstanding educational and professional environment that offers experiential learning, mentoring benefits, and leadership-building skills.

Interns will also have the opportunity to spend time with museum colleagues from across departments and learn more about museum careers, experiences, and responsibilities.

Visit mercermuseum.org/internships for more information. Deadline is Thursday, February 1, 2024.

The Mercer Museum Shop has a wide array of gifts available for everyone on your list!

From historic toys to handmade tiles and ornaments to books and more, our shop has something for everyone at a variety of price ranges. Stop by the museum this week to get your last minute gifts!

The Mercer Museum Gift Shop is open 7 days per week from 10am - 5pm, and all proceeds go to our education, exhibition and community initiatives.⁠

To learn more about visiting the Mercer Museum today, go to mercermuseum.org/buytickets.