Ground was broken for the former Berkshire Hotel, Northwest corner of Fifth and Washington Streets, Reading, PA, on the 16th day of December, 1913. Construction work began the next day. Two months were lost, however, due to extreme cold weather, which means that [...]
George Bornemann was born October 5, 1838, at Lingen, Province of Hanover, Germany. His father was a rope-maker; his mother, Louisa (born, Rolfs) died when he was six years old. The schools of his native town provided his elementary education, and he early [...]
One of the first business places in Reading was the store of Conrad Weiser at a little crossroads we now know as Fifth and Penn streets in Reading. Weiser moved to the Tulpehocken area in Pennsylvania in 1729, erecting a house upon a [...]
On November 2, 1852, the City Union High School on Fourth and Court streets in Reading, Pennsylvania, opened its doors to boys only. Thirty-five students were enrolled under the direction of Principal William H. Batt, who was paid a salary of $800 a [...]
Kershner's Ice Cream Parlor was the favorite stopping off place for Reading's old timers for the better part of 50 years. The business was started initially about 1895 by the late Jonas Sharman. He sold it about eight years later to Andrew Kershner. [...]
The Mount Penn scenic lookout at the southern end of Skyline Drive in Reading is situated on some of the oldest and structurally most complicated rocks in the state. Below: Mount Penn scenic lookout at the southern end of Skyline Drive. [...]
The Madison building was erected between 1926 and 1927 as the Metropolitan Edison building. During the middle years of the 20th century, from 1927 through 1982, this building was successively owned and occupied by two of the area's major institutions, Metropolitan Edison Company [...]
The former South of Penn pool, at Seventh and Laurel Streets, site of an old school building, was built in 1930 by voluntary subscriptions of money, materials and service through a subscription drive by the Reading Times Newspaper. The pool was 60 by [...]
The South Reading Market at 548 Bingaman (southwest comer of 6th and Bingaman) was one of the city's most recognized and enduring structures. It was one of a number of "sanitary market houses" erected just before the two Penn Square market buildings closed [...]
Nestled in the heart of the business district is the Washington Towers apartment building. The apartment building was part of the Court Street Urban Renewal Project. On July 21, 1960, $860,774 in federal capital grants and a federal loan of $1,598,704 was made [...]
