On October 22, 1781, the Doan Gang robbed the Bucks County Treasury and the Treasurer's house in Newtown. WHYY reported that they took 1,300 pounds sterling and that the money was never recovered. Today is the 245th anniversary of that robbery. The desk from the Newtown treasury is on display at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.
The Michener Art Museum is also in Doylestown, and through January 10, 2027 it is showing 21 depictions of Washington crossing the Delaware. That is the event the Doans' neighbors were risking their lives for. One borough is holding both sides of Bucks County's Revolution at once, and the overlap has an end date. The Mercer recently extended its Doan exhibition through December 31, 2027. The Michener's show closes Sunday, January 10. If you want to see both, see the Michener first.
The Crossing, as artists keep repainting it
The Michener's exhibition is called "The Crossing: Picturing the American Revolution," and it runs June 27, 2026 through January 10, 2027. Curator Laura Turner Igoe told WHYY that the museum chose not to retell the history. "As an art museum, we thought we could contribute something different to the conversation, looking at how artists, both historic and contemporary, have engaged with that event, tried to depict that event or used the visual language of that event to comment upon our current moment," she said.
The works span about two centuries. The earliest is Edward Hicks' 1819 "The Passage of the Delaware," by the Bucks County folk painter. The latest include Ai Weiwei's 2023 "Washington Crossing the Delaware," built from toy bricks. WHYY reports that Ai's piece reproduces the 21-foot Emanuel Leutze painting with an estimated 650,000 bricks and puts Beijing's National Stadium on the far shore. Leutze's original hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, according to WHYY, has not moved in more than 60 years. The Bucks County Herald notes that this is the work's first museum exhibition.
The piece most tied to this county is by Bucks County artist Robert Beck. He studied the boats, the terrain and the weather of that night in 1776 and painted "Second Crossing," a canvas so dark that Washington is almost impossible to find. He explains the painting in the museum's audio guide, as quoted by WHYY:
"This painting is not about patriotic mythology. This painting is about what the men faced. It's about spirit and courage."
Philadelphia artist Mark Thomas Gibson called the crossing a "moonshot" and said Washington "got lucky." His 2025 painting "Shipwrecked" shows what could have happened if it had failed. Roberto Lugo's woven piece links the old naval-crossing paintings to modern immigration. vanessa german's immersive "Miracles and Glory Abound" puts a boat at its center carrying "LaQuisha Washington Crossing the Day Aware."
Taken together, the gallery treats the crossing as a gamble that worked. Plenty of people in Bucks County at the time were betting against it, and the Mercer tells their story.
The neighbors who chose the other side
"The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution" covers Revolutionary War Loyalists whose "deep loyalty to British rule in the colonies made them enemies of the Founding Fathers." In the Mercer's words, it explores the conflicts that arose "among neighbors, friends, and families in Bucks County who were forced to choose sides." According to the Bucks County Herald, the family's base was a 108-acre farm in Plumstead Township that Joseph Doan Sr. bought in 1765. It sat two miles north of Danboro, on what is now Old Easton Highway.
Most of the places in the gang's story are within a short drive of downtown Doylestown. The exhibition's timeline traces them:
- February 19, 1778: a Loyalist raid on the Bird-in-Hand Tavern in Newtown, with gang member Joseph Tomlinson named as a participant
- October 14, 1781: the gang's first known theft, robbing tax collector Job Barton of Buckingham Township
- October 22, 1781: the robbery of the county treasury in Newtown
- August 26, 1783: the shoot-out at Halsey's Cabin, where Moses Doan was killed
- September 24, 1788: Abraham and Levy Doan hanged in Philadelphia
The Herald places Halsey's Cabin near Tohickon Creek by Point Pleasant. Its account spells the younger brother's name "Levi."
The Mercer's April 2024 announcement listed more than 300 artifacts, documents and images, plus historical sets visitors can step into. The lenders include the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Newtown Historic Association and the Plumstead Historical Society. The artifact list reads like a map of the county. It includes the Newtown treasury desk, a Bucks County prison door, a Plough Tavern cornerstone, a lock from the Buckingham Friends Meeting House, and the execution broadside for Abraham and Levy. It also includes Aaron Doan's letter to Benjamin Franklin. The Mercer's announcement singles out a flintlock from the Halsey's Cabin shoot-out as one of the highlights. Then there is Moses Doan's grave marker, which Henry Mercer himself placed in Plumstead in 1888. The man who built the museum was collecting this story more than a century before the exhibition opened.
WHYY covered one local find in 2024: a stone carved "1775 M" from a Buckingham Township cave, which may be evidence that the Doans hid in caves. WHYY called the interpretation suggestive, not conclusive.
Where the two shows meet, on one Sunday
At 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 15, the Mercer presents "The Doan Gang and Washington's Crossing: A Revolutionary Tale." The museum describes it as a look at "the gang's connection to this pivotal moment in American history." It is the one event on either calendar that covers both exhibitions in a single hour. Tickets are $15, or $10 for Bucks County Historical Society members. One way to plan it: visit the Michener the Saturday before, when it is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday you would then hear the gang's side with the Hicks, Beck and Ai paintings still fresh in mind.
The calendar through the end of the year:
| Date | Where | What | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Michener | Opening day for Barbara Moon Boertzel's retrospective; artist on site 12 to 2 p.m. | General admission; free for members |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Mercer | "Spill the Tea!" curators' behind-the-scenes tour, 6 to 7:30 p.m., with tea from Wallace & Davis Enchanted English Tea Room of Lahaska | $25; $20 BCHS members |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Michener | Free Second Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m. | Free |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Mercer | "The Doan Gang and Washington's Crossing," 2 to 3 p.m. | $15; $10 members |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Mercer | Meet the Curator tour, 6 to 7 p.m. | $25; $20 members |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Mercer | "Coffee and Doan-nuts" early tour, 9 to 10 a.m. | $20; $15 members |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Michener | Final Free Second Sunday of 2026, 12 to 5 p.m. | Free |
| Sun., Jan. 10 | Michener | Last day of "The Crossing" | General admission |
The two free Sundays matter most for the Michener. The museum's announcement says its free Second Sunday admission, supported by the Art Bridges Foundation, runs through December 13, 2026, and covers all exhibitions on view. On any other day, the Michener's ticket portal lists adult admission at $15, seniors at $13, students at $8, youth 6 to 18 at $5, and children under six free. Doan exhibition entry is included with regular Mercer admission. The Mercer's site lists that at $20 for adults, $17 for seniors, $15 for students and $10 for youth, with children five and under and members free. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
December, 250 years on
According to WHYY, the crossing took place "on Christmas Eve 250 years ago." The Michener's holiday schedule keeps "The Crossing" open through most of that anniversary week. The museum is closed Thursday, November 26 for Thanksgiving and open Friday, November 27. It is open Thursday, December 24, closed Friday, December 25, and open again Saturday, December 26 and Sunday, December 27. It is open Thursday, December 31 and closed Friday, January 1. After that, only one more full weekend remains before the show closes.
The Mercer's holiday season also overlaps with the Doan exhibition. The free Holiday Open House is Tuesday, December 1, from 6 to 8 p.m., with local music, children's activities and Santa in the Historic Log House. Fonthill Castle's Holiday Daily Tours run November 14 through December 22.
The rest of the Michener's season, and a marker in Plumstead
Two other Michener exhibitions continue after "The Crossing" closes, and both have local ties. "Abstractions of Nature: Quarries and Industry in Pennsylvania Impressionism" opened September 5 and runs through February 28, 2027. It includes work by 14 artists, among them Daniel Garber, Edward Redfield, Charles Rosen and William Lathrop. Igoe also curated that show, and she told the Bucks County Herald that quarries became "part of the landscape for artists, providing structure, scale, and light."
"Barbara Moon Boertzel: Listening to Time" opens Saturday and runs through April 18, 2027. It is the first museum retrospective for the New Hope artist and educator. Assistant Curator Abi Lua organized it, and it premieres Boertzel's artist-book trilogy, "I Listen to the Passage of Time." The museum is at 138 South Pine Street, on the site of the 1884 Bucks County Jail. The original prison walls still surround the Patricia D. Pfundt Sculpture Garden.
To see the Doan story where it happened, drive to the Doan Gang historical marker on the grounds of the Friends Meeting House at 4914 Point Pleasant Pike in Plumstead Township. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission put it up in 2005. It says the Doans spied for the British, sold them stolen horses, and robbed the county treasury. The marker also says three of the Doans "are buried nearby," although the Bucks County Herald's history of the gang notes it is uncertain whether any of them are buried there.
Many Central Bucks properties come with their own histories, and some of the land along Old Easton Highway, Point Pleasant Pike and the old Buckingham roads appears in the Doan story. If you would like to talk about a Plumstead, Buckingham or Doylestown property and what its history adds to it, Lisa Povlow and our team would be glad to help. Schedule a private consultation.
