Berks Nostalgia

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Recent Posts

  • George Horst & His Sheerlund Estate

    This article was co-authored by Brian C. Engelhardt and originally appeared in the Fall 2021 edition of the Historical Review A Man Too Modest for Who’s Who It is ironic that the Reading Eagle’s most recent mention of the late George D. Horst was in…

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  • Reading Pagoda – History, Present & Future

    For nearly 120 years the Pagoda has served as a beacon to generations of us who have called Reading and greater Berks County home. What is its story? How does such a unique Japanese structure end up on a mountain in Pennsylvania? What’s happening now?…

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  • Bushong’s Dam Set to be Razed

    On January 13th, 2025 it was announced by Reading’s City Council that the bid had been awarded to demolish Bushong’s Dam, which sits along the Tulpehocken Creek just before the confluence with the Schuylkill River. The removal project is nearly two decades in the making,…

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  • Birdsboro’s Brooke Mansion

    The Brooke Mansion (aka Brookeholm) in Birdsboro was built in 1887 for Edward Brooke II as a present for his new wife and second cousin, Anne Louise Clingan. They were married in St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Birdsboro on October 12th, 1887. The Brooke family’s…

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  • Happy New Year, 1925

    I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year in 2025, but I figured now was as good a time as any to turn back the pages a century to see what our ancestors were feeling when 1925 burst into the “now”. The January…

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  • Robesonia Train Station

    Robesonia’s passenger rail station was built in 1856 as a stop on the Lebanon Valley line on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, just west of the Wernersville Train Station and Sinking Spring’s passenger Station. It was located on the southern end of Robeson Street and…

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  • McGinty Motorcars

    Back in October Pat McGinty of McGinty Motorcars was kind enough to give me a tour of his building at 1041-43 Washington Street in Reading. The structure sits on the east end of Washington near the foot of City Park. In 1882 the deed for…

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  • Blind Hartman’s Tavern

    Blind Hartman’s Tavern was established in 1822 by Jacob Hartman on Pricetown Road in Alsace Township. Hartman was blinded in 1786 at age four while he was playing with his baby brother when the child grasped an awl, and playfully jabbed it into Hartman’s eye,…

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  • The Stewart School: A Legacy of Coeducation

    This article originally appeared in the Spring 2023 edition of the Historical Review. The roots of Reading High School can be traced to the formation of the all-boys Reading Academy in 1852. A female equivalent public school was founded in 1857. By 1859 both sexes…

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  • Olive Leaf Union Chapel

    The Olive Leaf Union Chapel sits on Fritztown Road just beyond Weitzelville and right before you get into Fritztown if traveling toward Lancaster. It is home to the Olive Leaf Sunday School, which has been congregating since July of 1890, previous to this in what…

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Berks Nostalgia