Category: 1990s
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On this Day, May, 31st 1998: Lyons Tornado
Read more: On this Day, May, 31st 1998: Lyons TornadoOn May 31st 1998, an F3 tornado went through Lyons, PA and caused much destruction. Luckily, no lives were lost as a result of it, but many resident’s properties were heavily damaged. The tornado caused roughly $1,400,000 worth of damage to local homes and properties around Lyons. The town was closed off for nearly a…
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Ice City – Sinking Spring / Douglassville
Read more: Ice City – Sinking Spring / DouglassvilleIce City was a Pool & spa supply store first located on 422 in Douglassville, and then added a second location Penn Ave in Sinking Spring. The company was originally started and owned by Richard Muller in 1958. Muller in 1956 bought the Pure Ice and Coal Co. at 17th and Tilghman streets, Allentown. “Back…
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Jan 15th, 1994: Two 4+ Magnitude Earthquakes shake Berks
Read more: Jan 15th, 1994: Two 4+ Magnitude Earthquakes shake BerksTwo earthquakes – the first measuring 4.0 on the Richter Scale and the second recorded at 4.6 – shook the Berks County area Saturday night. The quakes are believed to be the largest ever recorded in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, according to officials.The Associated Press reported that shocks from the second quake were supposedly…
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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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The Hitching Post
Read more: The Hitching PostThe Hitching Post was a very popular restaurant located in the Springmont section of West Lawn. Built in the 1930s, it was originally a Howard Johnson’s. It then became an establishment called the Imperial Club. Finally, it became the Hitching Post in the 1960s. Countless anniversaries, birthdays, organizational meetings and other celebrations were held here…
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On this day – Nov 24th, 1993 – Cumru Township Gas Explosion
Read more: On this day – Nov 24th, 1993 – Cumru Township Gas ExplosionA water pumping station along Old Lancaster Pike in Cumru Township owned by Citizens Utilities Water Co. was destroyed in an explosion Tuesday night, leveling the structure to concrete slabs. The force of the explosion, heard up to five miles away, blew the doors off the building through the containment fence. “Fearing that the blast…
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Penn Square Reading
Read more: Penn Square ReadingIf you hear someone refer to Penn Square in Reading, they are speaking of the 400 and 500 blocks of Penn Street with the center being 5th Street. It marks the center of downtown Reading, which used to be adorned with shops on both sides of the street. Below downtown Reading is pictured in the…
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Sno-Kist
Read more: Sno-KistSno-Kist was a beloved summer ice-cream place that was located along route 222, just south of Shillington. It was directly across the street from an Adult Video store called the RT. 222 News Outlet and was just north of Simotas Dairy Bar. The building had been an ice cream stand since the 1950s, always called…
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The Road to Nowhere
Read more: The Road to NowhereThe Road to Nowhere. If you are a native of Berks County you have likely heard the phrase. It was used to refer to a stretch of highway that quite literally dead ended. Slowly over the course of a few decades the road was extended to create a complete Route 222, which also interchanged with…
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Dempsey’s Dutch Boy Stolen
Read more: Dempsey’s Dutch Boy StolenOn this day, April 7th 1990 the Dempsey’s Dutch Boy statue was stolen from it’s location on the 5th Street Highway in Muhlenberg. The 6-foot, 250-pound Dempsey’s Dutch boy statue outside the restaurant at Fifth Street Highway and Bellevue Avenue was lifted right out of its shoes about 3 a.m. Wednesday. The “victim”, however, apparently…
