Bernhart's dam and lake has existed on an extensive Spring Valley acreage since 1796. The dam was originally constructed for a grist mill. John S. Bernhart acquired the mill tract in 1832. He enlarged the dam, built a new mill and then added [...]
The Horatio Trexler Mansion was built in 1869 in the French Second Empire style. The French Second Empire manner strove to imitate the French baroque elegance of the new architecture in Napoleon Ill's Paris. The small decorative porch to shelter callers - not for [...]
The handsome Staufer Building, located at the Northwest corner of Sixth and Franklin Streets, was erected by William M. Staufer in 1897 as a building for offices, apartments and an assembly hall. Many civic groups met here, including - at the turn of [...]
The roads that wind around Mount Penn to the Pagoda are lined with a stone wall that was built from 1932 to 1934. The original building of the wall was funded and constructed by the Federal government under the Administration of President Franklin [...]
The northwest corner property at Sixth and Penn Streets of former Outlot No. 8 of the original town plan of Reading was originally sold by the Penns in 1749 to John Epler. Two years later John’s brother Adam was listed as owner. In [...]
The Baer Building in Reading occupies the lot at the northeast corner of Church and Court Streets. The building was originally built as a 3 story office building facing Washington Street in 1870 and the high-rise was an [...]
The southeast corner property at Sixth and Penn Streets, the sixty feet of former Outlot No. 20 of the original town plan of Reading was first conveyed to Conrad Weiser for his own business. Afterwards his decision was altered and he installed his [...]
The Skew Arch Bridge in Reading, PA, also known as the Askew Bridge and nicknamed the Soap and Whiskey Bridge, is a historical skew arch bridge completed in 1857 carrying two tracks of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (P&R) at an angle over [...]
In 1909, the city leaders celebrated with much fanfare the opening of the Spring Street Subway, a rail bridge that eliminated a dangerous Reading Railroad crossing – first for pedestrians and later for cars. The Reading Railroad was well established in the area [...]
After years of standing vacant, the former Saylor store at 401 Penn Street was razed in June 1980 to make way for the CNA Insurance Building. CNA would erect a large complex on the western half of the square, supplanting four existing buildings [...]
