Category: Aerial

Reading Airport’s Original 1939 Hangar

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Berks County’s desire for an airport began in the wake of World War I. By the late 1920s pioneering pilots like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart thrust aviation into the spotlight. Capitalizing on this popularity, small airfields like Whander Field in Ontelaunee Township popped up in 1927 and Madeira Field in Muhlenberg Township in 1929.

While these first fields paved the way for the introduction of aviation in Berks County, many felt that neither were close enough to Reading proper and that the greater Berks County area should be served by a municipal airport.… Read Full Article

How the Fairgrounds almost ended up in West Wyomissing

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The earliest years of the Reading Fair were held at City Park and then a plot on North 11th street. During the early 1910s the Berks County Agricultural Society was tired of leasing the land at North 11th Street and wanted a more permanent location they could call their own.

Reading Fairgrounds West Wyo
April 3rd 1914 Reading Times – Reading Fairgrounds West Wyo

On April 3rd, 1914 it was announced in the Reading Times that they had narrowed it down to three locations – West Wyomissing, Cumru Township and North 11th Street.… Read Full Article

Centre Park Historic District

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Spring has sprung, everything is coming back to life and in my opinion it is the most wonderful time of year. I went to visit Centre Park Historic District to capture some of what I find to be the most beautiful residential architecture within the city limits. 

Some of the most prominent mansions on Centre Ave date back to the 1870s, when the industrialists of that time were the first to build their estates on land then considered to be country.… Read Full Article

Charles Evans Cemetery

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In 1846 Charles Evans donated the first 25 acres that became the cemetery. His goal was to create a nonsecular place of rest for Reading’s citizens that was removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. The site sits one mile north of Reading’s city center, which was in the mid-19th century safely rural land.

In the 177 years since Charles’ first donation, the cemetery added 94 more acres and has interred 62,000 bodies.… Read Full Article

Warren Street Bypass | 1959 and Today

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Before the Reading Motor Inn, or Berkshire Mall, there was sprawling farmland and a highway system that was still being integrated into the rural roads of Spring Township. On this day in 1959 the Warren Street Bypass reopened after the construction depicted below closed the roadway for an extended period.

Warren Street Bypass
As it appeared in 1959, photo Edward G. Schneider (Eagle Staff Photo)

The bridge branching off from the bypass at the left is the northern extension of the Reading Bypass at the point where it crosses the Tulpehocken Creek and joins the Warren Street Bypass.… Read Full Article

Berks Nostalgia