Bucks Co. African American Museum To Get Permanent Home

MIDDLETOWN, PA — The African American Museum of Bucks County, which was founded in 2014, will soon have its first permanent home in a historic farmhouse.

The museum will occupy Boone Farm, in Middletown Township, which it will rent from the county for $1 per year through September 2030. Bucks County's board of commissioners unanimously approved the contract during their meeting this week.

"This is close to my heart and I am very excited about this," said commissioners Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia, who recently toured the property with fellow commissioners Bob Harvie and Gene DiGirolamo.

Marseglia said that rehabilitating the farmhouse, which is off of Rt. 413 and dates back to 1716, was a passion of late U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick when he served as a county commissioner.

Fitzpatrick, the brother of current U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, died in January after a long battle with melanoma.

The property was operated as a farm all the way into the mid-20th Century. But, due to the extensive upgrades needed, Fitzpatrick's effort found itself on indefinite hold.

"Finally, we have been able to put the pieces together," Marseglia said, "and it will hopefully very soon be the African American Museum."

Until now, the African American Museum of Bucks County has operated as a mobile museum, displaying exhibits and artifacts at schools, libraries, senior centers and other locations.

Its exhibit "Building on the Dream: From Africa to Bucks County" is on display through Oct. 1 at the Bucks County Visitor Center, and was featured last year at the Pearl S. Buck House.

A permanent physical location will allow the museum to better fulfill its mission, said museum President Linda Salley.

Salley said she first learned of Boone Farm in 2003 while teaching a group of elderly black women to quilt. The women said they had fled the rural south in their youth, Salley explained, seeking a better life in Bucks County.

After settling in the Terrace in Bristol, the women found paying work at Boone Farm.

When Marseglia told her the museum had a chance to occupy the farm? "I almost fell out of the chair," Salley said.

"This took a lot of doing," said Salley. "We are extremely grateful to the Bucks County Commissioners for this wonderful opportunity to bring our shared history to the Bucks County community."

The museum hopes to open its doors to the public in the second half of 2021.

County Project and Diversity Officer Bernard Griggs said Philadelphia-based Pennoni will handle the engineering end of the project. He said they'll work with an architect to craft a proposal for renovations. Once a proposal is approved, a contractor for the project will be chosen through a public bidding process.

Griggs said he is hopeful costs to the county for the Boone Farm renovations will come in under $300,000.

The museum space is set to occupy the farmhouse's lower levels, with its headquarters in offices on the third floor.

"From the very first tour that we took there, keeping in mind my construction background, I could see that there’s a lot of work," Griggs said. "But I know that the work can be done, and done professionally. We’re good to go."