George Lauer immigrated to America in 1823. Upon landing at Baltimore, Md., he was poor, having just had enough money to pay the passage across the ocean for him and family. The journey was made in a sailing vessel and required three months. [...]
Mr. Whitner was a son of the late George Whitner, and was born in Oley Township at Yellowhouse. He was educated in the township schools and worked on his father's farm. Calvin K. Whitner began his career in Oley Township, Berks County, not [...]
The Lindbergh Viaduct was constructed to provide another eastern entrance to the City so as to relieve Perkiomen Avenue of some of its traffic. Built in 1927 at a cost of about $470,000, the Viaduct was designed by Berks County Engineer Charles F. [...]
Although Rajah Temple had its beginning in 1892, the year 1893 brought the actual setting up of the Mystic Shrine organization in Reading and the beginning of work in the Order. The minutes of the first Recorder, Philip Bissinger, shows that the first [...]
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 [...]
