The celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by the Catholic of this city took place on October 12, 1892. A number of private and business houses were decorated with flags and streamers. St. Paul’s church, pastoral residence, school building [...]
At one time Reading was dominated by textile manufacturers. By the 1960s and early 1970s most of the textile companies moved south, but a couple that remained - Talbott and David Crystal – had outlets, mainly for women’s clothing. Under the leadership of [...]
The beautiful mansion, known as "Bon - Air", located at Hill Road and Clymer Street, is a monument to Reading's glory days, a testament to when William Luden put Reading on the map with his candy and cough drop company. The building was [...]
While three different brewers lived in this former “brewery mansion” over the years, people generally referred to the place as “the Stocker Mansion,” named for the brewer who built it. It stood on the northwest corner of 11th and Exeter. On this site [...]
On the southwest corner of Lancaster Ave. and Morgantown Rd., Reading, once sat the imposing George F. Boyer mansion, erected in the 1880s. Henry, whose great-grandfather started Boyertown, was born in Reading, in 1837. After a sound education and marriage to Mary Ann [...]
Wertz's Covered Bridge, also known as the Red Covered Bridge, is a historic wooden covered bridge located at Bern Township and Spring Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The bridge, a 204-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge, crosses the Tulpehocken Creek and serves as the walkway [...]
Andrew Carnegie was once the richest man in the world. Coming as a dirt poor kid from Scotland to the U.S., by the 1880s he'd built an empire in steel - and then gave it all away: $60 million to fund a system [...]
On April 20, 1915, two adjoining tracts of land in Muhlenberg Township, totaling 54 acres, were purchased for $20,750 for the site of the Reading Fairgrounds. Several subsequent purchases increased the area to approximately 78 acres. The site was ideal since it was [...]
When the oldest citizens were boys, and even before, there were summer gardens and other popular resorts in Reading and vicinity. Before the law was enforced prohibiting the selling of strong liquors on Sunday, there were “summer gardens” in connection with some of [...]
Muhlenberg Township had two covered bridges, Stoudt’s Ferry Bridge and Leize’s Bridge, both of which spanned the Schuylkill River and both shared with Bern Township. Bridges were covered only to extend the life of the wooden superstructures but Stoudt’s Ferry Bridge was unique [...]
