City fathers 100 years ago were screaming about the double parkers on Penn Street, and citing a city parking ordinance prohibiting the parking of a vehicle in front of any hotel, hospital, church or public building. In 1922, most of the shoppers came [...]
The Neversink Reservoir sits adjacent to the 10th & South playground. The Neversink Reservoir was built in 1936 on just over 29 acres of land, which was acquired by the city in 1865 for $890. The cost of construction, including fixing the initial [...]
By 2045, the U.S. will be a majority minority nation. During that year, whites will comprise 49.7 percent of the population in contrast to 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for blacks, 7.9 percent for Asians, and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations. This [...]
By 1910 it was clear to Reading’s leaders that the biggest progress was quickly moving beyond the City limits. A few new suburban industries were already finding their locations an asset. Lower land prices were attractive, there were fewer restrictions on developable land, [...]
Between the year in which Reading became a Third Class City and the year in which Reading’s prosperity is said to have reached its peak, the City underwent some major physical changes as it saw the years of its greatest progress. The underlying [...]
Development from the City Charter till 1874, when Reading received a new charter and became a City of the Third Class, progressed steadily and through the same forces which guided it prior to 1847. Population increased from 15,743 in 1850 to 23,162 in [...]
The town of Reading was chartered as a borough by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1783, and granted a new Borough Charter in 1813, with the legal boundaries set beyond those of the original town plan. The northern and southern boundaries were still [...]
When Thomas Penn and his engineers were discussing the location and plan for the county seat of the proposed Berks County (1745-1748), the land east of the Schuylkill, west of Mount Penn and north of Mount Neversink was divided into large estates whose [...]
Bernhart's dam and lake has existed on an extensive Spring Valley acreage since 1796. The dam was originally constructed for a grist mill. John S. Bernhart acquired the mill tract in 1832. He enlarged the dam, built a new mill and then added [...]
The oldest and largest establishment of its kind in this part of the State, Jno. F. Boyer’s old reliable stables, have long been recognized as unrivalled for efficiency of service and complete facilities in all matters connected with horses and general livery business. [...]
