06/14/2026
For Flag Day, we present the history of the Swartzlander flag pole, which in its time was considered the tallest flag pole in the United States:
The tall and symmetrical flag staff . . .was presented to the borough, with permission of the County Commissioners to plant it where it stands, by Dr. Frank Swartzlander (1842-1907) in 1897. He was moved to make this unique gift to Doylestown because there was no fitting place at the county seat to fly the national flag on public occasions.
After careful inquiry, the doctor found what suited him in the spar yard of David Baird, Camden on the Delaware, and engaged the owner to fashion the two sticks into a flag staff, which occupied several months. The flag staff stands164 feet out of the ground and 10 feet under, embedded in cement. The main mast is of Oregon pine, 111 feet long, 33½ inches in diameter at the butt, and 22 inches at the top. It was brought around Cape Horn to Philadelphia and laid in the Delaware River to season for seven years. Dr. Swartzlander bought the stick as a log in the water and had it dressed. The top mast, bought at the same place in the rough, is 76 feet long of Michigan spruce, 5 inches in diameter at the top. [When the two masts were joined, there was an overlap of 13 feet.] The flag staff, as a whole, is the tallest and largest flag staff in the country. The flag that files from the top of the staff is of the largest garrison size and was also the gift of Dr. Swartzlander.
The Schwartzlander flagpole was located in a park-like setting on the northwest corner of today‘s Broad and Court Streets, near the old court house. A local landmark, it was proudly recognized during military events and other celebrations. Eventually, however, it became rotted and unsafe and was removed in 1914.
Photo source: Milton Rutherford Collection
Text from W.W.H Davis 1905 Publication on The History of Doylestown.
