Category: Rt. 422
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West Lawn Elementary School
Read more: West Lawn Elementary SchoolTake a look at how West Lawn and West Lawn Elementary School looked in 1932: The school looks like it was fairly new at the date of this photo, but I could not find an exact date of build. It sat at Riegel Ave and Nobel Street, a block in from Penn Ave. It functioned…
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Furlow’s Food Market
Read more: Furlow’s Food MarketFurlow’s Food Market was located at 3940 Penn Avenue (then 542 Penn Ave) in Sinking Spring. It was owned by Rufus Furlow and Morton Heim. It was opened in late 1927 as the September 14th 1927 Reading Times clipping below foreshadows. I could not find a hard date on when the market closed, though Morton’s obituary…
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Queen of the Valley Diner
Read more: Queen of the Valley DinerThe Queen of the Valley Diner was opened in 1954 at 1730 Penn Avenue in Wyomissing Hills, and sat just down from the old Iron Bridge that crossed the railroad. It was opened and first operated by a man named Clyde F. Snyder. Later it was bought by Charles and Gloria Schwambach. The Schwambach’s later…
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KidSports
Read more: KidSportsThis one is near and dear to my own heart, as I grew up going to KidSports. It was located along Penn Avenue, connected to the old Boscov’s West Department Store building. Before Kid Sports, it was an Acme and/or IGA Grocery store for many decades. According to this Washington Post article, KidSports was the…
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West Reading Then & Now
Read more: West Reading Then & NowBelow is an aerial photo of Penn Avenue and the surrounding streets in West Reading from 1932. A few notable structures are the then-brand new Buttonwood Street Bridge, West Reading Hotel, West Reading High School in it’s prime and many others.
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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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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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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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Old Iron Bridge Connecting Wyomissing & West Lawn
Read more: Old Iron Bridge Connecting Wyomissing & West LawnThis iron bridge was on 422/Penn Ave connecting Wyomissing and West Lawn. It was built in 1926 and replaced an older, smaller iron pony-truss bridge. Only two “overhead bowstring bridges” like it are known to have survived in the state of Pennsylvania.* One ended up being placed on the Horseshoe Trail at Scarlets Mill in…
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King Hamburgers / Dairy King
Read more: King Hamburgers / Dairy KingThis establishment was originally Called King’s Hamburgers. When Burger King came to Pennsylvania the owner tried to block their usage of the name “Burger King”, which backfired. Unbeknownst Burger King Corporation had already filed for the Pennsylvania rights for that name just a few months before the owner. After this the restaurant was known as…
