High above Reading on the Mount Penn ridgeline, the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower mixes postcard views with moonlit lore. The 120-foot stone-and-concrete sentinel opened on October 28, 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project, replacing an earlier lookout near the Gravity Railroad [...]
Screpesi’s Sandwich Shop in Reading, Pennsylvania—founded in August 1949 by Joseph and Stella Screpesi—has delighted locals for over seventy-five years with fresh food, friendly service, fair prices, and a proudly simple, memorable menu. Joseph Screpesi Humble Beginnings The first shop opened its [...]
Alright folks, buckle up your Locomobile steamers and put your quarters in the gas meter, because we're taking a high-speed, slightly unhinged journey through the 20th Century. Forget what you learned in history class; this is the real story, full of deadly sleds, [...]
Gather ‘round, ye seekers of discounted fleece, for the tale of the Redding Pennsylvania outlets—er, Reading Pennsylvania outlets (curse that silent “a”)—is a yarn spun from the looms of history, greed, and polyester blends. Once the crowned jewel of America’s bargain empire, this [...]
Sarge's Japanese Ice Cream Parlor opened its doors on June 24, 1916, at 932 Penn Street in Reading, Pennsylvania. Designed with an Oriental-inspired facade, the building reflected the early 20th-century fascination with Japanese aesthetics fueled by cultural phenomena like Puccini's Madame Butterfly and [...]
The Beryllium Corporation was established in 1933 and relocated in 1935 to 150 Tuckerton Road in Temple, Pennsylvania, where it took over the former site of the Pennsylvania Malleable Iron Company. This site became a key hub for beryllium copper production in the [...]
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, [...]
