Category: Sports

  • George Field

    Reading High’s First Home Field George Field is located at 1801 North 5t Street. The land for this field was purchased by Reading High School’s Athletic Association on May 28th, 1909. The field was dedicated officially three days later on May 31st, 1909. At this time the Boys and Girls High Schools were separate entities,…

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  • Bowl-O-Rama

    Bowl-O-Rama opened its doors in 1957; a dream of its five shareholders who bought the land and built the alley on Perkiomen Avenue in Exeter Township. It was home to local bowling leagues, social events and gatherings over the years. There was a bar and grille in the establishment as well as 40 bowling lanes.…

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  • Wilbur “Lefty” Reeser –
    Sports Star to Sporting Goods

    Wilbur “Lefty” Reeser was born on June 28th 1918 in West Lawn to Herbert and Mary Reeser. Judging from Lefty’s senior yearbook excerpt below, he was an all-around athlete during his adolescence. During his senior year at Wilson he led Berks County in boys basketball scoring and also took the Prexies baseball team to the…

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    Sports Star to Sporting Goods
  • Haunted Fairgrounds Square Mall

    The Fairgrounds Square Mall has itself become a ghost. It was just demolished over what will inevitably go down as the infamous Summer of 2020. The mall was on its last leg for years, and it only seemed fitting that it would meet its end in such a year as this one has been. However,…

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  • Sinking Spring Speedway

    Sinking 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 night races under lighting over the summer months. The twice-deffered…

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  • Before Baseballtown – Reading’s Minor League History (1900s)

    In 1919 the International League started a baseball team in Reading, PA. Their home field was Lauer’s Park at 3rd & Elm Streets. They were first named the Reading Coal Barons in their first season in 1919 and then the Reading Marines in 1920. In 1921 they became the Reading Aces, a name that lasted twice as long as the previous names; an entire two years. Lauer’s…

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  • Wilson High School

    The original Wilson High School building was erected in 1929 on Grandview Boulevard above West Lawn. The first school year started in Fall 1929 and housed 7th-12th grades. The name of the school was chosen in the hope that the life of the man in whose honor it was named, Woodrow Wilson, might serve as…

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  • Central Catholic High School

    Central Catholic High School

    Luden’s mansion at 1400 Hill Road was purchased by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Philadelphia in October of 1939 for $45,000. Renovations were made to make the home into a school, and on January 2, 1940 Central Catholic High School of Reading opened its doors. It was the second catholic high school in the city…

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  • A 100 Year Review of Berks – Happy New Year 2020!

    Happy New Year Berks County! Not only is it a new year but also the beginning of a new decade. As we leave behind the 2010s, let’s look back on the beginning of the last 10 decades, and some of the events that we experienced together as a community during them. The past is important…

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