In 1871 the West Reading Market House was erected on the south side of Penn below Fourth Street, extending in the rear to Cherry Street. The directors of the Market House Company, headed by John Kissinger, president, and George M. Ermentrout, secretary and [...]
In 1910, Theodore Auman, J. George Kuersten, J. George Rick and Frank D. Hill built the "Lyric" theatre at 808-810 Penn Street. The theatre, seating 950, opened October 3, 1910, with a vaudeville policy, but after two years it presented a combination of [...]
The small theatre, which once stood at 819 Penn Street, had various names over the years, including the Crescent, the Princess, and even the Arcadia for a short time after the original Arcadia theatre in the 700 block of Penn Street was replaced [...]
The Temple Inn was erected in 1928 by Morris Sassaman as Penn Temple Hotel at the intersection of Kutztown Road and Fifth Street Highway. It had 25 rooms and two banquet halls. Sassaman sold the facility in 1936. A bar, which operated on [...]
Rising 19 stories or 275 ft., the county courthouse is the tallest building in Reading. The courthouse, located at the northeast corner of Sixth and Court Streets, was the only skyscraper and art-deco style temple of justice in the United States when it [...]
On October 19, 1778 Mr. Hall sold the property located at the Southeast Corner of 5th & Penn Streets to Mark Bird. Mark Bird, of Birdsboro, conveyed the property to John Bishop, of Exeter. Mr. Bishop by will dated February 20, 1812, devised [...]
Green Spot is a brand of non-carbonated, non-caffeinated orange-based soft drink originating in the United States but today produced in Thailand and Venezuela. While not as globally famous as Coca-Cola or Pepsi, it holds a unique legacy in certain parts of the world, especially [...]
Few persons know why Hampden in Northeast Reading was once known by the name of Helltown. About 200 years ago a man named John Hell came with his family to that place, and, as far as can be ascertained, he was the [...]
Authorization for the erection of a comfort station at the southwest corner of 5th and Penn Streets was asked from council by Councilman Yeager on June 15, 1921. Construction of the 5th and Penn comfort station began on July 26, 1921. The contract [...]
The 10th and Windsor Market House was erected in 1894 according to plans and specifications prepared by Architect Alexander F. Smith of Reading. Alexander F. Smith, over the course of a very successful career, designed the Pomeroy's building, the Baer Building, Berkshire Country [...]
