Riding the Rails to Doylestown

By Josh S. and Daniel H., Nina S. and Yoni H.

On Thursday, May 19, the sixth grade traveled to Doylestown to three museums to learn about archaeology and art.  But we didn’t travel by bus. We hiked from Barrack Hebrew Academy to Merion Station where we caught the R5 train. During the hour-and-a-quarter ride, we took pictures, played card games, sang songs, and relaxed.

When we got off the train, our first walk was about three blocks to the Mercer Museum.  It was built in the early 1900s by Henry Mercer, a businessman and archaeologist, to show all the types of tools and artifacts people used before the Industrial Revolution, when the world started using steam- and electric-powered machines.  We saw horse-drawn carriages, boats, a cider press, tools for making wheels, a gallows, a water-powered saw mill, an anvil, tongs and much, much more.

After stopping in the gift shop for something for each other or family members, or just a souvenir to put in our rooms, we hiked about a mile to Mercer’s home and his tile factory.  Along the way, we saw houses built in the 1800s, pets looking out windows, police officers and shops. Doylestown looks like a well-to-do, safe community, like Merion.  But when we walked past a large, old graveyard, we all tried to hold our breath.  At Fonthill, Mercer’s home, we had a picnic on the beautiful grounds before our tour. 

In the Fonthill “castle,” built in 1910, we learned how Mercer hosted many guests who wanted to see his tiles, which are on display in the 44 rooms. In order to serve his guests, Mercer had intercoms in every room, as well as electric lights which were just coming into use. Also, to transfer food from the kitchen to the dining room, which was upstairs, he used, what is called, a dumbwaiter.

Since Henry Mercer wanted to build his house so that it would be fire-proof, he used concrete—a very unusual idea.  We visited a terrace in the highest part of the building, where Mercer used to frighten his neighbors by lighting a bonfire to show that his house wouldn’t burn. Because he built the house himself, even though he wasn’t an architect, the floors, walls and staircases are very uneven and the rooms are not placed in an orderly fashion. But his house is adorned with many interesting tiles from his factory which are biblical in certain rooms, historical in others, or just decorative.

At Mercer’s Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, on the grounds of the castle, we learned how his tiles were made and how valuable they are. His workers hand-crafted each one using historic methods. They also made mosaics in the factory and many of these were installed in Mercer’s house.  The State Capitol in Harrisburg and other famous buildings have Mercer tiles, too.  The designs that were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s are still being created today, and they are still being sold in his factory. We met one of the craftspeople who demonstrated and explained to us how they are made, and showed us a special stamp that is engraved into each one showing that these are modern Mercer tiles, not antiques.  Many of us now have Mercer tiles of our own that we bought in the gift shop.    

We rushed the mile back to the station, but caught our train just in time.  On our return trip, we had to change trains in Center City at a very busy station and ride a crowded rush-hour train to Merion.  This wasn’t fun because we couldn’t sit next to each other anymore.  But back in Merion we met our parents and went home for a much-needed rest.