Archaeologists have uncovered the foundation of an 18th-century building in Newtown Borough.
The building on State Street was involved in a notorious robbery by Bucks County’s Loyalist Doan Gang during the American Revolution.
The discovery puts to rest decades of uncertainty over whether anything remained of the original structure.
The find comes 244 years to the day after the October 22, 1781, raid on the Bucks County Treasury, which saw the Doan Gang make off with a large cache of tax money intended to fund the Revolution. They loot included 1,200 Spanish silver dollars and 400 French crowns.
The excavation was part of a Phase I archaeological testing project sponsored by the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle, which is operated by the Bucks County Historical Society, as research for its ongoing major exhibition, “The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution.”
In May, Bucks County Historical Society staff, community members, and archaeologists, working with Matt Bielecki, of Stony Hill Archaeological Research, excavated four test pits on the site of the former treasury.
The structure was demolished in 1873.
The team uncovered parts of the original foundation, along with artifacts including an English pistol gunflint.
“It was so exciting when we actually hit rock and lime mortar in the test pits, exactly where historic maps of the old building told us we should,” said Bucks County Historical Society Exhibit Specialist Clint Flack, who participated in the dig and co-curated the exhibition. “To think there’s still something left of the building that the Doan Gang encountered on that night in 1781 really makes the history of that time period come alive.”
The Doan Gang was a network of Loyalists who supported Great Britain, robbing tax collectors, militia members, and other citizens who backed the Revolutionary cause.
Bucks County Historical Society Senior Director of Collections, Exhibitions, and Historical Properties Cory Amsler noted the importance of the initial dig.
“We anticipate that the artifacts recovered in the dig will eventually enter the collections of the Historical Society’s Mercer Museum — some to be placed on view in conjunction with our ongoing Doan Gang exhibition,” Amsler said.
The original treasury building was part of a complex that included a courthouse and a prison.
Many members of the public witnessed the recent excavations and learned archaeological methods from Bielecki and his staff.
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The recovered artifacts will be analyzed in Bielecki’s laboratory, and a full report on the project is forthcoming. Bucks County Historical Society and Bielecki hope to conduct further Phase III testing at the site in spring 2026.
Entry to “The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution” exhibition is included with general Mercer Museum admission. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Further information is available at doangang.org.
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