In 1743, Richard and Thomas Penn (sons of William Penn the founder of Pennsylvania, and grandsons of Sir William Penn for whom Pennsylvania is named) planned the town of Reading with Conrad Weiser. It was named Reading, after the county town in Berkshire, [...]
On July 25th, 1907, Pendora Park, a commercial amusement park in East Reading formally opened to the public. People gathered from all sections of the city. The crowd was estimated at between 18,000 and 20,000. Every trolley car headed for East Reading was [...]
The City of Reading has witnessed the appearance and disappearance of numerous newspapers since the origin of the town's existence. The first newspaper appeared in 1789. In December of 1912 the "Reading News" came into being as an independent morning newspaper "with an [...]
Organized crime is a society that seeks to operate outside the control of the American people and their governments. It involves thousands of criminals, working within structures as complex as those of any large corporation, subject to laws more rigidly enforced than of [...]
Mount Penn was known as "Dengler's" from 1841 to 1902, having been named after George Dengler, Esq., the first prominent citizen of that vicinity; who, in 1840, purchased fifty-six acres of land and a tavern which stood at the intersection of the Philadelphia [...]
At the turn of the 20th century there were few means of travel. Of course, there was the horse and carriage, which was fine, if the city dweller had one. There were some foolish people, too, who were making use of that new-fangled [...]
McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. Below: South Side, 500 block of Penn Street, 1960s. Below: South Side, 500 block of Penn Street, left to right: [...]
The Penn Hardware was founded in Reading, PA in 1877 by Charles Raymond Heizmann, who became the president of Penn Hardware, and his brother Albert Aloyeuis Heizmann, who became treasurer. Penn Hardware made some of the finest brass and steel hardware produced in [...]
The city of Reading is bounded on the west by the Schuylkill River, on the east by Mount Penn, and on the south by Neversink Mountain. Overlooking the city on Mount Penn are two landmarks, a Japanese-style pagoda, and the William Penn Memorial [...]
On Sunday, May 24th, 1846, dedication services were held at the newly built Saint Peter's church. The congregation of the new church increased rapidly so that in 1854, there were said to be about 3,000 souls composed of about equal number of Irish, [...]
