The Crystal Restaurant was once one of Reading’s most popular dining establishments. It was an institution, a landmark, the definitive meeting and eating place in downtown Reading for 70 years, filled with memories and meaning. Founded in 1911 by Constantine Mantis, the Crystal [...]
Groundbreaking was held on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 for Alvernia University’s CollegeTowne project. Below: Alvernia University President John R. Loyack smashes a wall Tuesday as the university celebrates the beginning of work on its Reading CollegeTowne project at 401 Penn St. In February, 2020, [...]
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 [...]
The 1960s and 1970s were marked by the effect of Federal urban renewal programs upon the City. Although it later became fashionable to criticize the effects of the wholesale demolition and, reconstruction that these programs sponsored, there is little doubt that Reading gained [...]
William H. Luden (1859-1949) was the developer of the menthol cough drop and founder of the Luden's company and brand. The son of an immigrant father from the Netherland’s, Luden quit school at the age of 15 and became an apprentice candy maker. [...]
The Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health is taking shape in Wyomissing, with completion set for July. "The hope would be that as students come out here and train out here, they will fall in love with the area and will [...]
In September 1987 Joseph M. Eways, of Mast Management in Wyomissing, proposed the construction of a 20-plus-story ultramodern skyscraper called” The Reading Renaissance Center” at the former site of C. K. Whitner Co. Inc. Department Store. Below: Southwest corner of 5th and Penn [...]
In 1980, The Pennsylvania Crime Commission (PCC) documented the ties to Organized Crime of apparent legitimate cheese and pizza businesses which located in 54 Pennsylvania cities and towns. The report, “The Study of Organized Crime's Infiltration of The Pizza and Cheese Industry,” published [...]
The Penn’s Common area of the city, or “City Park” to the unenlightened, took on a mix of characters during various phases of its development. When much of the city east of the Seventh Street railroad tracks was largely undeveloped for most of [...]
The city adopted its flag in 1898. The flag as it is today was executed by Bailey, Banks & Biddle, of Philadelphia, and was adopted by Councils as the official standard of the city. The flag consists of three vertical stripes, red, white [...]
