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Recent Posts
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The Hawthorne & George F. Baer
Read more: The Hawthorne & George F. BaerIn the shadow of the Pagoda, at 1501 Mineral Spring Road, sits the Hawthorne; mansion of the late George F. Baer. A statement to his influence, the Baer moniker still echos throughout Reading to present day. You may recognize it as the namesake of a…
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Old Rajah Temple | 525 Franklin Street
Read more: Old Rajah Temple | 525 Franklin StreetThe beginning of the local Rajah chapter dates to 1892 when the Berks County members of the Lulu Temple were tired of making the journey to Philadelphia to attend meetings. They decided to pursue a local charter with the national Rajah organization. In August of…
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The Stouchsburg Murder and Berks County’s most Sensational Trial
Read more: The Stouchsburg Murder and Berks County’s most Sensational TrialOccasionally I come across a story so heinous that I can’t believe it has become largely unknown. Much falls away from public awareness over the passage of a century. The Stouchsburg murder on the evening of July 3rd, 1901 and subsequent trial and conviction played…
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Adeline Baver – One of Berks County’s oldest Unsolved Murders
Read more: Adeline Baver – One of Berks County’s oldest Unsolved MurdersThe 1857 unsolved murder of Adeline Baver is one that has echoed through time in the area of Mohrsville, Berks County. Her gravestone stands in the old Belleman’s Church graveyard. Written in stone is: Adeline Baver, born 15th of May, 1838, and murdered on 7th…
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Fleetwood’s Hand Grave
Read more: Fleetwood’s Hand GraveA follower directed me to the small, bizarre “hand stone” that sits in Fleetwood Cemetery along Arch and Laurel Streets. The writing on the stone has worn away in the 140 years since it was inscribed. However, with a little digging I was able to…
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Liberty Fire Co | Reading Area Firefighters Museum | 5th & Laurel
Read more: Liberty Fire Co | Reading Area Firefighters Museum | 5th & LaurelThe Liberty Fire Company was established on January 21st, 1854 to protect the southern section of the City. At that first meeting the members voted to name it the “Wyomissing Fire Company”, but at the next week’s meeting they changed it to “Liberty”. The City…
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The Morbid Reality that Census Records teach us about Childhood Mortality
Read more: The Morbid Reality that Census Records teach us about Childhood MortalityCensus records are one of many genealogical resources that I utilize to bring you full accounts of Berks County’s architectural history. They help me confirm who lived in any given residence, and also provide context into their age, familial makeup and employment. While browsing some…
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Berks County’s introduction to Electric Light
Read more: Berks County’s introduction to Electric LightRecently I posted a “then & now” photo comparison of 1601 Perkiomen Avenue in 1905 and today that went fairly viral on nearly every social platform. A viewer on tiktok wondered if electric poles would have been present at that time. It’s a valid question…we…
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Artificial Intelligence impacts our Local History
Read more: Artificial Intelligence impacts our Local HistoryIt has come to my attention that Joe over at GoReadingBerks is back to his old shenanigans. Someone linked me his latest article on Blue Marsh and let me know that he scraped the interactive Blue Marsh map I spent months putting together to claim…
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History behind the charred remains of 113-117 North 5th Street
Read more: History behind the charred remains of 113-117 North 5th StreetIn 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…
