ZooAmerica is a zoo located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, The idea for a zoo in Hershey dates back to the formation of the town itself. In 1903, Milton Hershey purchased a large farm in the vicinity of Hockersville, several miles northwest of Campbelltown. Milton [...]
B. & J. Saylor food store, formerly located at 401 Penn Street, once drew customers from near and far for its offerings of fancy fruits, baked goods, and specialty foods. Saylor's blended its own high-grade coffees, which had many devotees. Another attraction was [...]
A unique event to occur in Berks County during prohibition was the day "heaven-sent" beer rained down on South 9th Street. The Reading Brewing Company had placed a $50,000 bond with the U.S. Treasury Department in order to store the beer that it [...]
For three decades, one of the city’s most popular and interesting attractions was the yellow-brick play castle in City park, situated on the north side of Washington Street, above 11th. The Reading City Park Kiddie Kastle was the brainchild of former city [...]
In the nineteenth century there was not the network of government sponsored social service agencies that are in place today. When needs arose, they were generally taken care of by families, benevolent societies, or by religious institutions. In the nineteenth century and for [...]
Whander Field was an airport located in the field across Route 73 from the Schuylkill Valley High School. Whander field was developed as a true community project without any Federal or State subsidy. It was quite modest by today's standards. It was little [...]
In 1872 Right Rev. Monsignor Bornemann, who in his fatherly sympathy had ever been most eager to relieve the wants of poor suffering humanity, purchased a three and half acre parcel of land from the Augustus Vollmer Estate for the sum of $10,000 [...]
Around beginning of the twentieth century, the first Ukrainian immigrants came to Reading from Western Ukraine and from the Southwestern part of the Carpathian mountain region, mainly from Lemko region. Deeply religious and closely attached to their Church, the Ukrainian immigrants were reluctant [...]
In 1920, St. Joseph's Church, 8th and Spring Streets, was the only Catholic Church in Reading north of Walnut Street. To accommodate the growing population in the northwest section of the city, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Dennis Dougherty, established St. Margaret's Parish on February [...]
In the early 1900’s only a few Italian families were to be found scattered throughout the City of Reading. But their number increased so rapidly that it soon became necessary to look after their spiritual needs and organize them into a congregation. In [...]
