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. [...]
In 1976, due to the rise of larger macro breweries, Reading Brewing Company ceased operations. The following article appeared in the April 15, 1976 edition of the Reading Times newspaper. The Reading Brewing Co. was filling its Bergheim cans today with premium [...]
The Reading Brewing Company was founded in 1886 by Philip Bessinger with a brewery at Ninth and Laurel streets in Reading. The beer was originally called Old Reading Beer and was marketed as a Pennsylvania Dutch beer. The brewery began with a production [...]
November, 1931: Fashioned with wood, the work of Textile craftsmen is a beautiful miniature reproduction of the Reading Hospital buildings and proposed additions. Made in Textile’s Wood Pattern Shop by Willis J. Katzenmoyer and Charles Wengert, under the supervision of Foreman Harry A. [...]
At the junction of Friedensburg Road and Old Spies Church Road, about a half-mile past the former Stony Creek Mills in Lower Alsace Township, stands an interesting stone structure that prior to enlargement had been a horse stable. Before that, it was Ancona’s [...]
The tradition of the fire truck parade on Penn Street dates back to the turn of the 20th century. It is not known exactly when these parades began on a regular basis. However, they may have started with the tradition of driving a [...]
