Category: Wyomissing
-
Reading Public Museum – 1950s
Read more: Reading Public Museum – 1950sMrs. James Woodward enjoys an informal afternoon reading to a group of children on the spacious front lawn of the Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery. The Museum and Gallery house an important collection of art masterpieces, as well as an impressive scientific and historic collection. A particularly appealing feature is the garden surrounding the…
-
Kaleidoscope at Berkshire Mall
Read more: Kaleidoscope at Berkshire MallThe Kaleidoscope was a store in the Berkshire Mall in the 70s. It sold jewelry, black lights and other psychedelic things. You could also get your ears pierced there. Do you remember this store?
-
Bon-Ton / Pomeroy’s at the Berkshire Mall
Read more: Bon-Ton / Pomeroy’s at the Berkshire MallEveryone has heard that Bon-Ton had declared bankruptcy and was subsequently closing all of it’s stores back in April. Liquidation began immediately, and finally after 4 months of sales the location at the Berkshire Mall is closing for the final time today, August 28th 2018 at 5:00 pm. Bon-Ton occupied the center anchor at the…
-
Wyomissing Swimming Pool – Happy Hollow
Read more: Wyomissing Swimming Pool – Happy HollowHappy Hollow Park still sits tucked away in Wyomissing, though the swimming pool is no longer in existence. Happy Hollow was built with community bonds sold, and the land was donated by Henry Janssen and Thun, prominent owners of the Wyomissing Industries in 1910. The land for the pool was also donated by Thun and…
-
Red Building – Textile Knitting Mill / Vanity Fair
Read more: Red Building – Textile Knitting Mill / Vanity FairThe old red building was just demolished the other day, to make room for parking for what will be UGI’s new headquarters. Now is as good a time as any to take a look at it’s history, which encompasses over 100 years of use. What we currently know as the “Red Building” was the very…
-
Glen Gery Brick Plant – Wyomissing
Read more: Glen Gery Brick Plant – WyomissingThe company’s unassuming origins can be traced back to Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1890, during the height of the Industrial Revolution when new construction was abound. A local businessman, Albert A. Gery, nicknamed AA, decided to try his hand at making fire brick. With financing from his father-in-law, Mathan Harbster, a prominent hardware merchant, Gery purchased…
-
Weiser Lake – The “Mine Hole”
Read more: Weiser Lake – The “Mine Hole”Below are aerial photos of Weiser Lake aka the Mine Hole near Wyomissing/West Reading. The first was taken in 1932, when the Reading Hospital Building was brand new. Pictured in the distant right is the Berkshire Knitting Mills. Before the Hospital expanded there was a small lake that sat where the current 7th Avenue garage…
-
Berkshire Mall Clock
Read more: Berkshire Mall ClockThe Berkshire Mall was opened in 1970, and had an interesting clock “tower” located In front of what was then a Rite Aid in the south wing of the mall. It was removed at some point, however the same benches remain. Above you can see the “Listening Booth”, a popular record store. Below you can…
-
Museum Road – 1927 & Today
Read more: Museum Road – 1927 & TodayBelow are aerial photos of Museum Road, looking toward West Reading. Pictured front and center is the Villa St. Elizabeth, “Home for the aged”. The Reading Public Museum can be seen further in the background, through some trees. Notice the then brand new Reading Hospital building in the top center. Most of Wyomissing was not…
-
Fabian Theatre at the Berkshire Mall
Read more: Fabian Theatre at the Berkshire MallA single-screen cinema, the movie theatre in the Berkshire Mall, showed its first feature August 26, 1970. It sat where Firehouse Subs and Five Below are now. The venue would be in operation until 1982. From 1970-1973 it was owned by Fabian Theatre, 1973-1982 United Artists and called Movies 1 2 3. It was expanded across…
