Berks Nostalgia

Category: Industry

  • 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, and is one of many dam removal projects completed in…

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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 relevance in the area stems from Edward’s grandfather, Matthew Brooke…

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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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  • What Happened to Reading, Pennsylvania?

    Without fail every time I post an old photo of Penn Street there are multiple comments asking, “what happened to Reading?” (and this is putting it nicely). Generally these comments are rhetorical and negative in nature, but sometimes I believe folks are genuine in wanting to know how we went from thriving industrial city of…

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  • The Ghosts of Angelica Dam & Lake

    The origins of Angelica Lake can be traced to the incorporation of the Angelica Water Company, which was founded in 1875. At that time Reading was beginning to feel the strain of unprecedented growth as it became an industrial powerhouse. Unsurprisingly many businesses were formed to accommodate the need for development. The Reading Land and…

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  • D. S. & W. Hosiery Mill / The Great Factory Store

    D. S. & W. Hosiery Company filed a charter of incorporation in June of 1917. The three men who founded it – Daniel J. Driscoll, William W. Staudt, and George S. Weinerth, had extensive experience in the textile industry by the time they partnered together. In the charter the shares of the company were split;…

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  • Colonial Trust Company Building

    The Colonial Trust Company was established in May 1900. It was formed by a handful of local capitalists including the likes of William McIlvain, John Barbey, Frank Lauer, E. W. Alexander, B. F. Owen, S.B. Keppel, Walter Rigg, and Howard Saylor. They opened for business officially in August 1900 and Louis F. Kraemer was the…

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  • Miller’s Ice Cream, Candy & 5 – 10 – 1.00 Stores

    Miller’s is an establishment that has eluded me for the entirety of my six-year “career” chronicling beloved places of the past in Berks County. I came to know of the name through my Mother telling me of her own memories at the Miller’s Drive-In which was located in Sinking Spring at 4700 Penn Avenue. Today…

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  • Centre Park Historic District

    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…

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Berks Nostalgia