The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public relief program for unemployed men ages 18 to 24 to provide unskilled manual labor for conservation and development of natural resources beginning in 1933. President Roosevelt promoted the CCC for youth unable to find jobs [...]
Berks County has the 3rd highest lead levels in the State, which is related to the amount of housing built prior to the creation of lead paint regulations and the high number of rental properties. Lead levels in Reading are three (3) times [...]
At one time, Reading was home to about 26 different pretzel bakeries, earning it the nickname Pretzel City. Julius Sturgis is credited with opening the first commercial pretzel company in the United States in 1861 in Lititz; later moving the enterprise to Berks [...]
By the beginning of the 20th century in Reading there was an urgent need for a Catholic secondary school. In order to meet the advanced academic needs of the Reading high school-age population, St. Peter High School was founded in 1911. St. Peter’s [...]
Ciotti Markets was started by the Ciotti family in their Summit Avenue home in Millmont in 1937. Their first full-fledged supermarket opened in 1947, at 330 Summit Ave. Below: Former Ciotti Market location at 330 Summit Ave., West Reading, PA. Ciotti’s Markets was [...]
By MaryBeth. Thank you for creating GoReadingBerks, one of my go-to websites when I need a dose of hometown nostalgia. Like you, I have fond memories of growing up in Reading. My memories include: being eye level with cases full of Pennsylvania Dutch [...]
Everything could be bought in that 400 block, from food to a diamond, from tires to a clock. Below: 400 block of Penn Street. North Side. First there was Kins for fine ladies to shop, and Pep Boys and Charles Auto Took good [...]
I was fortunate enough to grow up in the city of Reading before it lost its small town feel to the outside world. I was born in 1968 so I was able to experience the good throughout the 70s and 80s before Reading [...]
In 1967, "The Wincanton Report,” a federally funded study, was published about corruption and organized crime in a small city. Wincanton, a fictional name chosen to protect innocent people, was later disclosed to be Reading, Pa., a city that for 30 years was [...]
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 [...]
