Category: Nostalgia
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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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Holy Name High School
Read more: Holy Name High SchoolHoly Name High School’s history is directly entwined with the first catholic high school institution in Berks County; St. Peter’s Reading Catholic High. In the late 50s and early 60s enrollment at Reading Catholic High was declining, as it did not have the space or facilities it needed to attract new students. During this same…
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Central Catholic High School
Read more: Central Catholic High SchoolLuden’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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St. Peter’s Reading Catholic High School
Read more: St. Peter’s Reading Catholic High SchoolBefore Holy Name, or even Central Catholic, there was another Catholic High School in the city of Reading. St. Peter’s Reading Catholic High, or more well known as just “Reading Catholic High” was located at 225 South 5th Street in Reading. St. Peter’s Reading Catholic High was founded in 1911 and in 1914, the first…
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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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Berks Nostalgia Presents The Defunct Schools of Berks Collection
Read more: Berks Nostalgia Presents The Defunct Schools of Berks CollectionStarting tomorrow, and over the course of the next 9 weeks Berks Nostalgia is going to be publishing articles on each of Berks County’s High Schools that were defunct due to the consolidation of school systems into the larger districts we have come to know today. Most of these schools and the memories that were…
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The Apple Dumpling Festival
Read more: The Apple Dumpling FestivalThe Apple Dumpling Festival dates back to the summer of 1953. It actually came to be as a merging of two events; Spring Township’s 5-day community summer fair and the West Lawn Owls Baseball Club 2-day fundraising event. The Owls raised money for their club by selling Apple Dumplings and playing modest games like bingo.…
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Paper Mill Road Covered Bridge
Read more: Paper Mill Road Covered BridgeThe following images were taken in 1957 and I believe them to be depicting around the then-countryside of Wyomissing Borough. The first image has been identified, but the remaining two are up in the air. EDIT: The second image is now believed to be a covered bridge that sat in the area of the old…
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Die Scheier / Camelot Inn / Black Sheep Tavern
Read more: Die Scheier / Camelot Inn / Black Sheep TavernThe property located at 665 Fritztown Road between Sinking Spring and Weitzelville was originally built around 1895 by William and Alice Eberly as a farm and barn. Ralph and Anna Riffert took ownership of the property in 1925. Ralph was already a successful business man; owner of a Paint store in town and a milling…
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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…