Stairway to the Reading Pagoda
On August 12, 1932 dedication services were held for the completion of a stairway to the Pagoda. The dedication [...]
W.T. Grant Co., Reading, PA
Long before the days of big-box stores like Walmart and Target, five-and-dime stores had everything you needed. You could [...]
Keystone Hook and Ladder Company No. 1
The Reading Fire Department was officially organized on March 17, 1773, with the founding of the Rainbow Volunteer Fire Company. [...]
Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute/Penn State Berks
The Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute, founded by Ferdinand Thun and Henry Janssen, was originally organized as the Educational Department of [...]
Cigar Makers of Reading, PA
The manufacture of cigars began in Reading about 1800. A box of cigars always stood on the counter of [...]
First Catholic Church in Reading, PA
Reading was founded in 1748 by Thomas and Richard Penn (sons of William Penn). In 1752 a modest chapel [...]
House of the Good Shepherd
For more than half of our nation's history, social services were not provided by the government, but by benevolent [...]
St. Catharine’s Orphan Asylum for Girls
St. Catharine's Orphan Asylum for Girls was founded due to the generosity of Mrs. Catharine Madary, a Reading widow [...]
Hershey Candy Factory – Reading, PA
Milton Snavely Hershey (September 13, 1857 – October 13, 1945) was an American chocolatier, businessman, and philanthropist. At the [...]
Abandoned Mine Shafts in Reading, PA
The first main shaft for iron ore in Reading was sunk on Mt. Penn around 1843. The first mining [...]
City Park Iron Water Spring
Around the turn of the last century many people would visit City Park because they believed that the spring [...]
James Nolan – Railroad and Bridge Contractor
James Nolan, president of Reading Trust Co. and a railroad and bridge contractor for many years, was born in [...]
Tyson-Schoener Elementary School
Tyson-Schoener Elementary School was built in 1928 and was named for Benjamin Tyson and Adam Schoener, local legislators who [...]
Weiser Lake Mine Hole
West of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, between Seventh Avenue and Park Road, on the Wyomissing-West Reading border, [...]
Hampden Park Civil War Field Guns
Perched atop the old Hampden reservoir (now an athletic field) to the North and South were once two Civil [...]
Madeira Farm and Airfield
Few shoppers at the former Madeira Shopping Plaza, the commercial strip that extends from the former K-mart to the [...]
Penn Street Viaduct
he Penn Street Viaduct at Reading, PA is located at the foot of Penn Street. The viaduct begins at [...]
Reading, PA – Outlet Capital of the World
Outlets first appeared in the Eastern United States in the 1930s. Factory stores started to offer damaged or excess [...]
Penn Square Traffic Circle: The Roundabout That Refused to Quit
For almost 40 years, Reading, Pennsylvania, had a stubborn little traffic circle in Penn Square that seemed to have [...]
The Grand Opera House Theatre
In 1871 the West Reading Market House was erected on the south side of Penn below Fourth Street, extending [...]
The Lyric Theatre
In 1910, Theodore Auman, J. George Kuersten, J. George Rick and Frank D. Hill built the "Lyric" theatre at [...]
