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Recent Posts
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Sinking Spring Speedway
Read more: Sinking Spring SpeedwaySinking Spring Speedway was located along Fritztown Road, between Old Fritztown and Montello Roads. It opened in August of 1948 and was a quarter-mile semi-banked dirt racetrack about a half-mile southwest of Sinking Spring. It was ran by Harry D. Weil. They hosted afternoon and…
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Dixie Tavern West Lawn
Read more: Dixie Tavern West LawnThe Dixie Tavern was located at the corner of Dwight Street and Penn Avenue in West Lawn, where the Pizza Hut currently stands. Its grand opening was on July 16th, 1949. It remained a popular restaurant and bar in the area until it was replaced…
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Christman’s Ice Cream
Read more: Christman’s Ice CreamChristman’s Ice Cream was located along the west side of 4th Street (what now is Rt. 61 before the split) in South Hamburg. It was incorporated on May 25th, 1933 by Charles T. Christman. There were two other shareholders listed as well on 1933 business…
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Josiah Dives & the Ghosts of Folly Farm
Read more: Josiah Dives & the Ghosts of Folly FarmJosiah Dives was born in 1851 in Canterbury, England. He started his business career after moving to London at the age of 13 following his Father’s death. When coming to America in 1872, his first residence was Hartford, CT. This is where he met George…
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Fleetwood Fire Company – Then & Now
Read more: Fleetwood Fire Company – Then & NowThe building pictured above at Franklin and Washington Streets in Fleetwood in 1966 served as the Fleetwood Fire Company’s station and social quarters since it was erected in 1928. It was built at the cost of $65,000. The auditorium was used as a theatre, at…
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Van Reed Paper Mill & Covered Bridge
Read more: Van Reed Paper Mill & Covered BridgeThe Van Reed Covered Bridge The area around the mouth of the Cacoosing Creek into the Tulpehocken Creek was settled and industrialized by the Van Reed Family. They were dutch immigrants who came to America around 1750 and settled around this creek in the early…
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Defunct High Schools Series – The Comprehensive Conclusion
Read more: Defunct High Schools Series – The Comprehensive ConclusionI hope you have enjoyed the last several weeks as we have gone on a journey of the high school education system here in Berks County. This idea came to me when I considered that the senior class of 2020 has a less than ideal…
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Pensupreme
Read more: PensupremePensupreme was the trade name of Penn Dairy; which originated in Lancaster County. The dairy had restaurants referred to as “Pensupreme Shoppes” which served food and ice cream. They also branched into “Grocerettes” which were basically convenience stores in various places around eastern PA. The…
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Muhlenberg Township High
Read more: Muhlenberg Township HighIn 1830, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted a law requiring all municipalities to have separate school districts. Muhlenberg Township became a municipality in 1851. At this time the Muhlenberg School District was officially established with a one-room school called Schlottman School which was located on…
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Perry Township High School
Read more: Perry Township High SchoolAs early as 1821, citizens accepted the “public school” for their children in Shoemakersville. In 1854 Perry Township had nine school buildings with a total enrollment of 417 pupils. In 1865 the school board was established. Today several of the original school houses still remain.…
