Berks Nostalgia

Author: Alexa Freyman

  • 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 the Reading Times described as a “nearby school” in Montello.…

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  • Berks County Plays Historic Part in 2024 Election

    However you may be feeling this morning, its impossible to deny the part Berks County has played in the 2024 election. This is a departure from my usual analyzing of the past; but I also find it important to document the present historical moment. As we all know Pennsylvania played a huge part in both…

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  • Peter Wanner Mansion – Fraught by Failure

    The Peter Wanner Mansion sits at the very east end of Walnut Street in Reading, at the base of Mount Penn. The Victorian mansion was designed by Edward K. Mull and built in 1889 for Peter D. Wanner. Wanner was born on a farm near Kutztown in 1840. Despite his humble roots Wanner was driven…

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  • Membership to Berks Nostalgia

    I am at a crossroads with Berks Nostalgia. The past 7.5 years my creative and communication skills have flourished here. I would love to make this somewhat of career, though I have no delusion that it will be a particularly lucrative one. Luckily my situation is one where it doesn’t need to make me rich,…

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  • Harry Truman Visits Reading On This Day 1948

    On October 7th, 1948 President Harry S. Truman made a campaign stop in Reading where he addressed a crowd of roughly 20,000 on Penn Square at 10:45am. He spoke from a platform which was erected on the southeast corner of 5th & Penn. The city was already decorated in celebration of Reading’s Bicentennial anniversary, and…

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  • Stichter Hardware Company – 505 Penn Street

    Stichter Hardware was a well-known name amongst Reading merchants for over a century and a half. To get the full picture of the history of this specific site, we need to go back to the Berks County’s colonial period. The lot where this building sits was once owned by Conrad Weiser, who erected the first…

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  • Pagoda Update 9/10

    If you follow along on facebook you are probably aware that back in January I joined the board of the Foundation for the Reading Pagoda. The iconic structure has been closed to the public since COVID related closures back in 2020. A building and grounds assessment was conducted in 2023 which determined the building itself…

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  • Shillington Hotel & Bank

    This was originally posted on July 29th, 2024 to Berks Nostalgia’s facebook page, I have since added some more info and am reposting it here. Everyone likes to dump on Reading for its blighted properties (and it’s generally warranted) but lets put Shillington in the spotlight and examine the building on the southwest corner of…

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  • Follow Up and Thank You

    I would like to thank each of you that reached out and have given me support over the past few days. It’s been kind of a dark time both physically and mentally. Last Thursday as all of this played out I started displaying symptoms and ended up spending the entire holiday weekend suffering from the…

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Berks Nostalgia