Category: 1960s
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Dreamland Park – Rackets, Murder & Ruins
Read more: Dreamland Park – Rackets, Murder & RuinsIf you know anything of its past, the name Dreamland Park likely inspires a sense of dread within you. A tale of kidnapping, rape, torture and murder at the hands of the notorious Pagan motorcycle gang are what this park is most well-know for. But what if I told you the park’s shady past didn’t…
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A Century of Progress with the Junior League of Reading
Read more: A Century of Progress with the Junior League of ReadingIn 1901 the Junior League was founded in New York City as the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movement. It was founded within a time of great social unrest and an emerging feminist movement. On August 6th, 1923 ten wives and daughters of Reading’s elite industrialists met in the living room of Mrs.…
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Miller’s Ice Cream, Candy & 5 – 10 – 1.00 Stores
Read more: Miller’s Ice Cream, Candy & 5 – 10 – 1.00 StoresMiller’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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Memorial Day Weekend – On this Day
Read more: Memorial Day Weekend – On this DayIn 1960, Fleetwood dedicates its new swimming pool In 1960, a drunk driver causes a fatal accident in the parking lot of the Sante Fe Inn Restaurant on route 422 in Exeter Township In 1961, pile in the trunk – its time to see a flick at the Drive-Ins In 1960, Armed Forces Day Parade…
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V&S Sandwich Shop Holdup – On this day 1969
Read more: V&S Sandwich Shop Holdup – On this day 1969This is the V & S Sandwich Shop in the Antietam Valley Shopping Center, where a woman bandit got away with $545 in a daring late Saturday afternoon holdup. – Eagle Photo
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Rabbit, Run Filming at Barbey’s Playground – On this day 1969
Read more: Rabbit, Run Filming at Barbey’s Playground – On this day 1969These photos capture some of the action this morning at Barbey’s playground, Schuykill avenue and W. Elm Street, where “Rabbit, Run” is being filmed. In the photo at top right a cameraman with the company adjusts a minor hitch in the camera that held up filming for about a half hour. The lower photo shows…
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Red Bridge Renovated – Summer 1969
Read more: Red Bridge Renovated – Summer 1969Wertz’s Red Bridge underwent months of much needed structural repair in the summer of 1969. The bridge was closed due to damage it received from the extensive automobile travel it sustained when the Warren Street Bypass was closed to the public. Being an 19th century bridge, it was never meant to see as much car…
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Temple Oheb Sholom Explosion – On this Day 1969
Read more: Temple Oheb Sholom Explosion – On this Day 1969On Saturday night, May 24th 1969 someone detonated a small bomb behind the Temple Oheb Sholom on Perkiomen avenue in Reading. Windows were shattered all along the 200 block of South 13th Street, and the exact spot of detonation was quickly determined to be right behind the synagogue. The bomb went off at the very…
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Reading Fairgrounds & Speedway Plaque Dedication
Read more: Reading Fairgrounds & Speedway Plaque DedicationOn Saturday May 21st, 2022, a plaque commemorating the Reading Fairgrounds & Speedway was ceremonially dedicated to the drivers who lost their lives there. The brainchild of Jeff Hartman, Saturday’s event has been over a decade in the making, with a few bumps along the way. He originally pursued the idea back in 2010, when…
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The Ranch House
Read more: The Ranch HouseA staple on Penn Avenue in West Lawn for nearly a half century, the owners of the Circle S Ranch House announced on March 30th that they would be closing permanently on April 8th, 2022. The building was built in 1969 as a Schell’s. It replaced the location that was further east down Penn Avenue…
