In the early morning hours of September 3rd a three-alarm fire ravaged the two buildings north of the old Berkshire Hotel at 113-117 North Fifth Street. The cause of this fire is still under investigation, but there are reports that people heard an explosion at the rear of the two structures just before it began. Everyone made it out safely, thankfully. From what I have been told it seems like these buildings may be structurally compromised due to the inferno and whether they are going to be able to be repaired has still yet to be confirmed. This prompted me to want to look into the history of these buildings, which have beautiful facades consisting of large bay windows adorned with stained glass.

These properties were constructed in 1911 by Francis F. Seidel. Born in 1858 in Bern Township on his family farm and educated in the township’s public school; Seidel decided on an apprenticeship with undertaker E. S. Miller. He spent a decade learning the trade, eventually opening his own business in 1888 at 124 N. 5th Street. In 1890 he purchased a house addressed 117 North 5th, which he used as his personal residence and place of business. At this time embalming was still fairly new and not widely used, so bodies were buried very quickly after death to avoid decomposition. Also funerals were widely conducted at the home of the deceased, so Seidel didn’t need a large building to work out of, as his job mainly consisted of getting the body ready for presentation before burial.

Around the turn of the 20th century the funeral business was changing rapidly. Local funeral directors, like Theodore Auman, were on the pioneering front of utilizing embalming agents which allowed bodies to be preserved for longer before burial. The other transition of this period was the introduction of a “funeral parlor”, which extended the responsibilities of an undertaker into funeral hosting and event planning. Seidel is also credited in his 1934 obituary as introducing the first automobile hearse ever used in the city.

With this transition Seidel clearly need more space than his small colonial-era home could provide, and in 1910 he purchased the next-door home at 113 North 5th street. It seems as though construction began quickly, as a year later the Reading Times reported that his “Swan Apartments” were completed, and he and his family were moving in while construction on 117 – the location of his new funeral operations and offices next door would begin.

The 117 structure housed funeral operations on the first two levels, and the upper two floors were used as more apartments. This and the storefront on the 113 building would have been supplemental income for the Seidel family. The Seidel’s, including Francis and his children and their families continued to live in the apartments as well, so it is safe to assume they were fairly luxurious accommodations at that time.

In 1931 a considerable addition was constructed onto the back of the property, which included a large chapel with a two-manual organ and a crematory. The chapel was described in an April 1932 grand opening article, “it is of Colonial architecture, with great ivory columns, walnut pews, massive crystal chandeliers and stained-glass windows“. “Another feature is a crematory, the only one in the state outside of Philadelphia. It is beneath the chapel in which there is a special lowering device in front of the chancel to lower bodies.” This structure was untouched by last week’s fire and currently is home to La Gala Banquet Hall according to Google Maps.

Francis F. Seidel died on January 25th, 1934 when his automobile was struck by a train on his farm property along the Fritztown road near Fritztown. The Reading and Columbia line, a passenger route from Lancaster to Reading, was due at 5:03 p.m. at the Sinky passenger station. His son Herbert was quoted in the obit, “It was quite customary for father to drive to the farm several times a week, since he drove across those tracks so many times, I can’t understand that he didn’t hear a whistle or see the train.” The article also mentioned that Francis was alone and his wife Amelia was in Reading shopping at the time of his death. However, Amelia would die less than two weeks later at their home in 117 North 5th of lobar pneumonia.

Sons Herbert and Calvin moved out of the Swan Apartments after their parent’s death, but continued to head the business their father created. In 1945 another location was opened on Penn Avenue in Sinking Spring by the grandson of the founder, named Francis F. Seidel II, who operated until his retirement in 1988.

The original business continued to operate out of the building on North 5th until 1984 when obits in the Reading Eagle indicate their location changed to 247 Penn Street, which is also the long-time location of Auman Funeral Home. This seems to indicate that Auman’s absorbed the Seidel business, though I can find no article that substantiates that assumption. At the very least the business namesake was operating out of Auman’s building until the early 2000s, after which it ceased to be published in the Reading Eagle. The buildings at 113-117 North 5th continued to be utilized as apartments and business space since.

Most recently a unique victorian themed cafe named Ma Patisserie opened a little over a year ago in the storefront at 113. Unfortunately they sustained major water damage and are currently figuring out next steps. Dozens of residents were displaced and a donation drive was held this past Monday, but anyone who has things to donate may do so at any City of Reading Fire Station.