Category: 1920s
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Sinking Spring High School
Read more: Sinking Spring High SchoolThe Sinking Spring School was established on the plot of land next to the railroad tracks, between Vester Place, Columbia Avenue and Woodrow Avenue in 1894. Four additional rooms were added in 1902 and high school classes began being offered in 1904. Unfortunately, the original structure was gutted by a fire in the early Monday…
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Far East Chinese Restaurant
Read more: Far East Chinese RestaurantIn 1920, the very first Chinese cuisine restaurant opened in Berks County at 739 Penn Street in Reading by Chee Yuen Hong and his father Sik Que Hong. Back then it was called the Far East Tea Garden and was ran by various members of the Hong family through the following decades and moves. In…
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Reading Girl’s High School
Read more: Reading Girl’s High SchoolThe first school building at 4th and Court streets was originally built in 1839, and occupied by an all-boys private school called the Reading Academy until 1853, when the boys public school program began. In September of 1857, thirty-eight girls began attending classes in an upper room of the Boy’s Academy building. The boys and…
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Mt. Penn High School
Read more: Mt. Penn High SchoolThe original Mt. Penn School building was the precursor to Mt. Penn High School and was built in 1885 at 24th and Grant Streets. By 1923 there were 8 elementary grades and 4 high school grades in the building with 240 elementary children and 70 high school students. It had been outgrown and a new building…
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The Camelot Inn
Read more: The Camelot InnThe Camelot Inn was located at 665 Fritztown Road in Sinking Spring. It was built in 1925 as a speakeasy and was originally named “Die Scheier” which is Pennsylvania Dutch for “The Barn”. Ralph C. Riffert was the proprietor of the restaurant and bar. During prohibition Die Scheier was raided by state police after they…
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A 100 Year Review of Berks – Happy New Year 2020!
Read more: 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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Shillington High School
Read more: Shillington High SchoolIn 1925, the new Shillington High School was constructed on East Lancaster Avenue on land that was part of the Berks County Almshouse complex. An addition of twelve rooms was completed in 1930 and four more rooms were completed in 1936. Their sports teams were known as the Shillington Speeders. Boys teams adopted the name…
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The Park Theatre – 1016 Penn St
Read more: The Park Theatre – 1016 Penn StThe Park Theater opened November 11, 1926, and it was closed by a fire on May 19, 1978. The theater was demolished the following year. James S. Maurer operated the theater as a X-rated movie and live burlesque house, and in 1964 he was arrested along with two strippers in a raid by the Reading…
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Reading Hospital Photo Mystery
Read more: Reading Hospital Photo MysteryI got an email asking for help to solve the mystery of where the below photo was taken. The photo is of the back of the Reading Hospital around the time it was built in the mid-late 20s. I checked out a few aerial photos I have of the area from 1927 and 1940. Due…
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The Strand Theatre – 9th & Spring St.
Read more: The Strand Theatre – 9th & Spring St.Located at the corner of NE 9th Street & Spring Street. The Strand Theatre was opened February 21, 1920. By 1941 it was owned and operated by Goldman Theatres of Philadelphia. It was a fairly large theatre with a balcony, and had a huge wrap-around neon lit marquee. For years it was a neighborhood double…
