Category: Decades
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Mobil Station at the Berkshire Mall
Read more: Mobil Station at the Berkshire MallChances are you have noticed the long-abandoned garage at the corner of State Hill road and Woodland Avenue in front of the Berkshire Mall. You also may be wondering why a gas and service station couldn’t survive on such a prominent corner in Wyomissing. Spoiler alert; it wasn’t because they didn’t have business. The Mobil…
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5th and Penn Redevelopment
Read more: 5th and Penn RedevelopmentI have spent the better part of a year advocating for the long-awaited sale and redevelopment of the buildings on the northwest corner of 5th and Penn, that the City of Reading has sat on and let deteriorate for well over a decade. Finally, last month the city decided to sell the Farmers National Bank…
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George Boone IV Estate – 371 Old Tulpehocken Road
Read more: George Boone IV Estate – 371 Old Tulpehocken RoadThis property at 371 Old Tulpehocken Road has a three century old history. The oldest section of the house dates to about 1725, when George Boone IV built a small stone dwelling, summer kitchen and gristmill to settle lands that eventually would become parts of both Exeter and Amity Townships. George was the eldest brother…
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Reading’s First Natatorium – 134 N. 5th Street
Read more: Reading’s First Natatorium – 134 N. 5th StreetOn April 6th, 1904 it was announced in the Reading Times that William Luden had purchased a property at 134-136 North 5th street with the intention to construct a Natatorium. It would be Reading’s first indoor swimming pool, managed by the Fifth Street Swimming Club, which was formed for the endeavor with Luden as President.…
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James Carpenter’s Swanona Mansion
Read more: James Carpenter’s Swanona MansionJames Henry Carpenter James Henry Carpenter was born in 1846 in Brooklyn, New York. When he was a boy of 15 years the American Civil War broke out, and he promptly joined the Union Navy as a cabin boy. He took part in a night operation which involved capturing the Confederate schooner named “C.P. Knapp“.…
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30 North 6th Street
Read more: 30 North 6th StreetThis past summer I explored another of Reading’s long abandoned industrial spaces; 30 North 6th Street – directly across from the Courthouse. The bones of this building’s front section likely date to the 1840s. In its very beginnings it was utilized as a residential dwelling. Deeds from 1860 and 1880 describe it as a two-story…
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Who the heck is Mrs. Hattie Commins of Morgantown?
Read more: Who the heck is Mrs. Hattie Commins of Morgantown?Starting off the new year with a mystery – Often times I monitor Ebay for photos and postcards of the area that I can use for “Then and Now” social media posts. Postcards in particular are fun because they capture local scenes, often including people, in the wonderful context of their time. Around the turn…
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The Hawthorne & George F. Baer
Read more: The Hawthorne & George F. BaerIn the shadow of the Pagoda, at 1501 Mineral Spring Road, sits the Hawthorne; mansion of the late George F. Baer. A statement to his influence, the Baer moniker still echos throughout Reading to present day. You may recognize it as the namesake of a park at the far northwest reaches of the city and…
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Old Rajah Temple | 525 Franklin Street
Read more: Old Rajah Temple | 525 Franklin StreetThe beginning of the local Rajah chapter dates to 1892 when the Berks County members of the Lulu Temple were tired of making the journey to Philadelphia to attend meetings. They decided to pursue a local charter with the national Rajah organization. In August of 1892 they were granted their charter and purchased the former…
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The Stouchsburg Murder and Berks County’s most Sensational Trial
Read more: The Stouchsburg Murder and Berks County’s most Sensational TrialOccasionally I come across a story so heinous that I can’t believe it has become largely unknown. Much falls away from public awareness over the passage of a century. The Stouchsburg murder on the evening of July 3rd, 1901 and subsequent trial and conviction played out over thirteen years, and became one of Berks County’s…
