Christmas Traditions in Reading and Berks County in Times Past
Berks County, Pennsylvania—with Reading as its bustling seat—has long been a stronghold of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) culture, where Christmas [...]
A Mohnton Christmas Eve
The winter of 1920 had wrapped the Governor Mifflin area in a blanket of white, and on this particular [...]
Christmas on Penn Street: When Downtown Reading Sparkled with Holiday Magic
There was a time when Christmas in Reading, Pennsylvania meant something truly magical—a sensory experience that began the moment [...]
How Ninth Street Helped Illuminate a City
In the early decades of the twentieth century, Reading was a city in motion—industrial, crowded, and increasingly conscious of [...]
When Christmas Lights Glowed on Ninth Street
Long before Christmas lights became a seasonal expectation in Reading, North Ninth Street merchants made illumination a statement of [...]
Leisz’s Bridge: A History of a Lost Muhlenberg Landmark
If you stand at the quiet bend where River Road meets Leisz’s Bridge Road today, the Schuylkill seems calm—slow, [...]
Help or Harm? How Federal Programs Reshaped Reading
How Reading, Pennsylvania Became a Testing Ground for Every Federal Urban Policy—and Paid the Price In 1934, a Reading [...]
A Ride Through Time: The Golden Age of Reading’s Trolleys
It was a warm Saturday morning in June 1914, and Sarah Mitchell stood at Fifth and Penn Streets in [...]
How Reading’s Outlet Era Ended: Not Why… But How It Happened
For decades, Reading stood proudly as the Outlet Capital of the World—a destination so unique that millions of shoppers [...]
Thanksgiving in Berks County: A Journey Through Time and Tradition
From Lenape harvest celebrations to Pennsylvania Dutch apple-butter parties, to modern-day mission meals, the story of Thanksgiving in Berks [...]
Joseph’s: The Rise and Legacy of a Penn Street Clothing Landmark
This story holds special meaning for me—for Joseph’s was where my mother brought me each year to be outfitted [...]
A Wonderland on Penn Street: The Magic of Christmas at Pomeroy’s in Reading
For generations of Reading, Pennsylvania residents, the Christmas season didn't officially begin with the first snowfall or the first [...]
The Gateway to Reading, Pennsylvania: Transformation at Second and Penn
Cross the Penn Street Bridge heading west and you arrive, in an instant, at what generations of city leaders [...]
Ghost Stories from the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower
High above Reading on the Mount Penn ridgeline, the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower mixes postcard views with moonlit [...]
Five Generations of Pretzels: The Tom Sturgis Story
There's something magical about biting into a perfectly crisp, salt-dusted pretzel. That satisfying crunch, that unmistakable flavor—it's a taste [...]
Seiger’s Variety Store: The Shillington Shop That Never Closed
For most of the 20th century, if you lived near 105 W. Lancaster Avenue in Shillington, Pennsylvania, you had [...]
The Story of Tack’s Sandwich Shop in East Reading
Few eateries in Reading have inspired the kind of loyalty that Tack’s Sandwich Shop did. For nearly eight decades, [...]
Reading, Pennsylvania: Pretzel Capital of the World
If you grew up in Berks County, you’ve probably heard it your whole life: Reading is the Pretzel Capital [...]
The Hampden Haunting: Chief Dell’s Ghost and the Firehouse-Turned-Apartments at 11th and Greenwich in Reading, PA
At 11th and Greenwich Streets in Reading, Pennsylvania, there’s a brick building most people today recognize as an apartment [...]
The Van Reed Story: Men, Mills, a Covered Bridge — and a River Set Free
When I was about eleven, my brother and I roamed our northeast Reading neighborhood collecting newspapers for recycling. We [...]
Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, PA: From Farmland to Retail Landmark
The site that would eventually become Berkshire Mall spent much of its existence as productive farmland, woven into the [...]