In 1823, George Lauer, father of Frederick Lauer, started in the business of manufacturing beer in limited quantities in Womelsdorf. Three years later, in 1826, the Lauer family relocated to Reading, where a small brewery was established on Chestnut street near Third, on [...]
In 1891, George Frederick Lauer, chairman of the Lauer Brewing Co., erected an elegant mansion which fronted on South Third, at Chestnut. Below: The Fredrick Lauer Mansion, 1897. In April, 1894, a Reading Times newspaper reporter gave this description of the mansion: [...]
Ferdinand Winter, who for many years was a well-known business man of Reading, and a member of the leather manufacturing firm of Winter & Goetz, retired to his home at 900 Centre Avenue. Below: Ferdinand Winter Residence, 900 Centre Avenue, as it [...]
The Reading Bolt and Nut Works was a plant extending over some eight acres of land, lying between Third and Fourth streets, and between the Lebanon Valley Railroad and Buttonwood Street. The large and important industry had its inception in 1865. James Hervey [...]
A rare of collection of historical books of Reading, PA and Berks County. Searchable text PDF documents - full and advanced. Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view digital books. Because of the size, some of the books might not be able to be [...]
Around 1880, the first Slovaks arrived in Reading, PA. They came from Saris, Spis and Zemplin, areas in Czechoslovakia, and later from Trencin, Orava and Nitra, also in Czechoslovakia. During their first years in Reading, they attended Mass at St. Paul's Roman Catholic [...]
After glancing at the old Post Office at the Southeast corner of 5th and Washington Streets you may realize the building was the only one of its type and style in this city. Daniel Ermentrout was congressman for this district, when a federal [...]
The former Bachman Pretzel Company, was founded by Joseph S. Bachman in 1884. Joseph S. Bachman (b. 1863 - d. 1914), was born in Austria, and came to America with his parents, Francis and Margaret (Settler) Bachman, in 1868. He was educated in [...]
In 1864, Frederick R. Frill purchased from William Leinbach a farm of 116 acres. In 1873, he laid this land off into lots, and most of the lots in the blocks south of Penn Avenue and east of present-day Fifth Avenue were numbered [...]
The Penn View Motel, located on the block between 2nd and 3rd Streets on Penn Avenue in West Reading, was part of a chain of nine motels called Host Ways Motel. This highly recognizable landmark was clearly visible from the West-Shore By-Pass and [...]
