Category: Roadways
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Volkswagen Dealership – 1211 Lancaster Ave – 1970
Read more: Volkswagen Dealership – 1211 Lancaster Ave – 1970Pictures were taken by my Grandfather of the 1970 Grand Opening of the Volkswagen Dealership as “Dick Horrigan Volkswagen” located at 1211 Lancaster Ave in the late 1960s. Before this is was under the name Nick Ciliberti. It was diagonally across the street from the Red Barn Restaurant. Today, it is occupied by Glass &…
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Before 5th Street – North Reading – 1930s
Read more: Before 5th Street – North Reading – 1930sIn the late 1920s, people were expanding outwards from the city, into what is now Muhlenberg Township. According to this article, The petition to create the borough of Laureldale was made Feb. 29, 1929. Leading that effort was Frederick W. Shipe, a housing developer frustrated by the lack of side streets in the area (only…
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Dutch Colony Motor Inn
Read more: Dutch Colony Motor InnThe Dutch Colony Motor Inn once sat on route 422 in Exeter Township. It began operations in 1964 by Erna and R. Harding “Breity” Breithaupt. Breity Breithaupt was an aviation pioneer and owned Reading Aviation Service at Reading Regional Airport. A few years after opening they added the Antique Airplane Restaurant, named fittingly due to a 1927…
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West Wyomissing House Relocation
Read more: West Wyomissing House RelocationIn the early 1970s (’70/’71) , houses were relocated in West Wyomissing to make way to the future Route 222 to be built. My mother was a kid living on Girard Avenue at the time, and remembers the houses from Reading Avenue and Cleveland being moved to both sides of the most eastern section of…
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100 block Penn Ave: Before the Bypass
Read more: 100 block Penn Ave: Before the BypassWe all have driven on route 422…the stretch of highway that runs past Reading and along the Schuylkill River down to Pottstown. This stretch of road did not always exist. In fact it wasn’t until the 1960s that US 422 in the Reading area was rerouted from surface streets through downtown Reading onto bypasses built south…
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Miss Shillington – 1958
Read more: Miss Shillington – 1958Came across this image of Miss Shillington and Miss Greater Reading standing next to an antique car. The image is from 1958, and taken in the parking lot of the Shillington Shopping Center. It appears to be some sort of antique car show going on in the parking lot. If you have any more information…
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Fox North Theatre
Read more: Fox North TheatreOpened as the Fox Theatre on 21, Aug. 1964 and was located in the Muhlenberg Shopping Center on the 5th Street Highway (Rt.222), just north of Reading. The Fox Theatre was renamed the Fox North Theatre when Fox opened the Fox East Theatre on 3 May, 1971. It was equipped for 70mm film, had one…
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On this Day – August 24th, 1970
Read more: On this Day – August 24th, 1970Executives of C.K. Whitner Co. hold the doors open for early-bird shoppers as Whitner’s new store in the Berkshire Mall formally opened today. The men are, left to right, James B. Mercer, vice president, F. Ward Coburn, treasurer, and Calvin K. Whitner, secretary. (Left) The progress of contruction of a relocated and wider Lancaster…
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Solar Eclipse – February 26th, 1979
Read more: Solar Eclipse – February 26th, 1979As we gear up for Eclipse day, lets take a look back to the last Solar eclipse that was viewable from Berks County. It occurred on Monday, February 26th, 1979. Moon coverage began at 10:57 am, with peak coverage being around 12:13pm. Where were you during the solar eclipse of 1979? Before and after the…
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Then & Now – 1100 Block of Lancaster Ave
Read more: Then & Now – 1100 Block of Lancaster AvePictured is looking toward Reading on Lancaster Ave also known as 222 business. You may remember the Red Barn Restaurant, which then became a Chinese restaurant called Golden Chopsticks. It went out of business sometime in the early-mid 2010s.
