Category: Blue Marsh Lake

  • Staudt’s Justa Road Farm

    This 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 end of Justa Road in Lower Heidelberg Township stood a farm that surprisingly stayed in one family for…

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  • Himmelberger Homestead to Tani Kennels

    This 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 trekking has taken me to the remains of a farm that once sat at the end of Tulpehocken…

    Read more: Himmelberger Homestead to Tani Kennels
  • Fox Lake: remnants of a Berks County Summer Community

    Before Blue Marsh there was Fox Lake Before Blue Marsh Lake was even a thought, Fox Lake was a small man-made lake along the Spring Creek right before it merged with the Tulpehocken Creek in North Heidelberg Township. It was a popular summer destination in Berks County beginning in 1928 through the mid-century. Initially developer…

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  • Hurricane Agnus - Reading PA 1972 - Schuykill River

    Hurricane Agnes – Berks County’s Worst Natural Disaster

    50 Years After Hurricane Agnes – Article originally published on June 22, 2017 Hurricane Agnes caused extreme damage to Berks County residences and businesses when it hit June, 22nd 1972. In Reading, the Schuylkill River crested to a record high of 31.3 feet. Hundreds of people were evacuated and over a hundred homes destroyed. By the…

    Read more: Hurricane Agnes – Berks County’s Worst Natural Disaster
  • Warren St. Bypass

    On this Day – February 21st 1977

    100 Block of Penn Street is Demolished Buildings along the north side of the 100 block of Penn Street, next to the Penn Street Bridge, are being demolished. The properties are being razed by Fred E. Erb, Pequea, Lancaster County, under a contract with the Reading Redevelopment Authority (RRA). The area is part of the…

    Read more: On this Day – February 21st 1977
  • Wertz's Red Covered Bridge

    Wertz’s Red Covered Bridge

    Wertz’s Red Covered Bridge is one of only 5 original covered bridge structures left standing in Berks County. At one time there were quite a few over the Tulpehocken Creek in various locations along its span, including one slightly upstream near the old Paper Mill. Wertz’s Covered Bridge was built in 1867 and spans an…

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  • On this Day – September 30th, 1974

    Above the fold in the Sept 30th, 1974 Reading Eagle: Wagons Moved from Original Gruber Works Grounds On the Way -Wagons produced near the turn of the century are moved out of the Gruber Wagon Works along the Bernville Road, Route 183, in Penn Township. The county moved the wagons and will store them until…

    Read more: On this Day – September 30th, 1974
  • Blue Marsh Ski Area

    Blue Marsh Ski Area

    Blue Marsh Ski Area was a small ski area located in Bernville, just 10 miles north of Reading, PA. The ski complex opened in 1968 as the North Heidelberg Ski Slope by a man named John H. Guenther Jr.. In 1986 Joseph M. Aichholz Jr. and four partners leased the ski area, and in 1987…

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  • Blue Marsh Bridge - Pleasant Valley

    Before Blue Marsh Lake

    To squelch the rumors… no, there are no buildings standing underneath the waters of Blue Marsh Lake; only foundations and forgotten roadways. Many of these homes and farms were taken by eminent domain, ruining livelihoods and uprooting entire families. The whole process took almost an entire decade, with the first survey of acquisition dated January 1, 1970.…

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