Monsignor John J. Grabish has devoted over five decades to serving the Catholic Church and its communities, embodying a life of faith, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to helping others. From his ordination in 1972 to his present role as pastor of St. [...]
Photos by Gress Photography. Big Spring Farm is on Route 422 east of Conrad Weiser High School. The farm is on a parcel of property originally consisting of 2,794 acres that William Allen had surveyed on October 20, 1730. The area was a part [...]
In 1893, David Rosenbaum constructed one of Reading's most exquisite and ornamental structures. Mr. Rosenbaum moved to Reading in 1882 and purchased the property at 702 Penn Street and the southeast corner lot at Seventh and Penn Streets, where he founded his Clothier [...]
The Colonial Theatre, built by Carr and Schad in 1916 on the Breneiser property at 651–667 Penn Street between Ellis Mills and Hotel Allen, was the first premium movie house built "uptown." The film “Sleeping Fires,” starring Pauline Frederick, opened on April 15, [...]
On the west side of the Schuylkill River above the Bingaman Street Bridge sits an island with a narrow channel separating it from the shore that has been lost to the test of time. The little island near the foot of Bingaman St., [...]
I was fortunate enough to grow up in the city of Reading before it lost its small town feel to the outside world. I was born in 1968 so I was able to experience the good throughout the 70s and 80s before Reading [...]
City fathers 100 years ago were screaming about the double parkers on Penn Street, and citing a city parking ordinance prohibiting the parking of a vehicle in front of any hotel, hospital, church or public building. In 1922, most of the shoppers came [...]
The tradition of the fire truck parade on Penn Street dates back to the turn of the 20th century. It is not known exactly when these parades began on a regular basis. However, they may have started with the tradition of driving a [...]
On November 16, 1974, a man walking along a fire trail in Reading's Egelman Park discovered the body of Steven Warunek. Warunek had been found shot to death with a gaping wound on the left side of his face. On November 18, police [...]
On May 25, 1996, a three alarm arson fire, out of control for more than four hours, destroyed the former Great Factory Store in the 1100 block of Moss Street. The building was vacant since July 1985. The 2nd largest fire in the [...]
