Doylestown Memorial Day Parade: Everything You Need To Know

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The 153rd annual Memorial Day Parade in Doylestown will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, May 31.

The parade starts on the campus of Central Bucks West High School at 375 W. Court St. The route travels along West Court Street to Clinton Street, where it changes course onto West State Street. At Main Street, the parade turns left onto East Court Street before ending at the Doylestown Cemetery at 215 E. Court St.

There will be no parking allowed on West Court Street between Lafayette Street and Clinton Street as well as on East Court Street between Main Street and East Street. The restriction will take effect at 5 a.m. Monday and will remain in effect until the end of the parade, around 2 p.m.

The County Parking Garage at Broad and Union streets will be available for free parking beginning at 9 a.m. Monday until one hour after the parade ends.

The flag raising at the old Bucks County Courthouse, 55 E. Court St., will take place at 8:15 a.m., courtesy of Vietnam Veterans of America. Another flag raising will take place at War Memorial Field, 375 W. Court St., at 9 a.m., courtesy of the Marine Corps League.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Legion Luncheon at American Legion Post 210, 315 North St., will be for veterans only.

Memorial Day History

It Was Originally Called Decoration Day: Remembering veterans who died while in military service in late May dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. Logan called it “Decoration Day,” which it was known as for several years. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, History.com reported, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Birthplace Of Memorial Day: The Memorial Day holiday tradition in Waterloo, New York, dates back even longer than Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Waterloo first celebrated on May 5, 1866, as local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags, according to History.com.

"The people of Waterloo are justly proud of this outstanding event in the history of their community," then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller said in 1966, when the federal government recognized the upstate village about midway between Rochester and Syracuse as the “birthplace of Memorial Day.”

Although its event is canceled for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus, Waterloo holds a yearly two-day celebration — complete with a car show, Civil War memorial and 5K races — as a nod to the village’s rich connection to the holiday’s history.

A Civil War Holiday At First: Until World War I, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as noted above, was only meant to honor those who died while fighting for the union in the Civil War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the holiday took on a new role to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

National Moment Of Remembrance: Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. The midday time was chosen “because it is the time when many Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

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