Category: Places
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Reading’s Historic Architecture Review Board Mass Resignations
Read more: Reading’s Historic Architecture Review Board Mass ResignationsIn early March the local circuit reported that all six members of Reading’s 9-seat Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) resigned en masse. This is particularly troubling because only when things are very bad internally do organizations vacate themselves in such a manner. While the local medias reported on the mass resignations, they did not expose…
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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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Farmers National Bank Building
Read more: Farmers National Bank BuildingOrganized in 1814, the Farmers National Bank was Reading’s oldest and longest lasting financial institution. In 1817 they purchased the old Federal Inn which was located at 445 Penn Street. The Federal Inn was constructed in 1763 by Adam Witman and was one of Reading’s first taverns. President George Washington spent one night there on…
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Turner Building – 100 South 4th Street
Read more: Turner Building – 100 South 4th StreetThere has been a bit of drama recently surrounding the property at 100 South 4th Street in Reading. The property was purchased in 2021 by Dream Ventures PA II LLC, front for Brooklyn-based developer Heights Advisors. This is the same investment company which currently owns the Luden Mansion/Central Catholic and the Santander office building at…
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Stichter Hardware Company – 505 Penn Street
Read more: Stichter Hardware Company – 505 Penn StreetStichter Hardware was a well-known name amongst Reading merchants for over a century and a half. To get the full picture of the history of this specific site, we need to go back to the Berks County’s colonial period. The lot where this building sits was once owned by Conrad Weiser, who erected the first…
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Speicher’s Bridge and the Reroute of Church Road
Read more: Speicher’s Bridge and the Reroute of Church RoadThis is another installment in the “Before Blue Marsh” series, where I explore the remains of various properties that were razed in the 1970s to make way for the Blue Marsh Lake Project. See more here. Speicher’s Bridge was constructed in 1878, spanning the Tulpehocken Creek along Church Road connecting the townships of Penn and North…
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Lamm / Speicher Farm
Read more: Lamm / Speicher FarmThis is another installment in the “Before Blue Marsh” series, where I explore the remains of various properties that were razed in the 1970s to make way for the Blue Marsh Lake Project. See more here. My ongoing Blue Marsh mapping project led me to the remains of the Speicher farm which sat off of…
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Astor Theatre – 732 Penn Street, Reading
Read more: Astor Theatre – 732 Penn Street, ReadingThe Astor Theatre was constructed at the cost of half a million dollars on the south side of the 700 block of Penn Street. It was built on the site of the Arcadia Theatre, which was Reading’s oldest theatre, and opened on October 3rd, 1928. The Astor’s stunning art deco interior finishes are emblematic of…
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Skinner Farm – Lamb’s Pasture
Read more: Skinner Farm – Lamb’s PastureThis is another installment in the “Before Blue Marsh” series, where I explore the remains of various properties that were razed in the 1970s to make way for the Blue Marsh Lake Project. See more here. At the beginning of “Skinner’s Loop” trail which leads to Fox Lake, you will find the remains of the Skinner…
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Lamm’s Mill & Farm
Read more: Lamm’s Mill & FarmThis is another installment in the “Before Blue Marsh” series, where I explore the remains of various properties that were razed in the 1970s to make way for the Blue Marsh Lake Project. See more here. Lamm’s Mill was a three and a half story limestone masonry grist and saw mill which was built in 1844…
