The beginning of the local Rajah chapter dates to 1892 when the Berks County members of the Lulu Temple were tired of making the journey to Philadelphia to attend meetings. They decided to pursue a local charter with the national Rajah organization. In August of 1892 they were granted their charter and purchased the former St. Matthews Lutheran Church at Franklin and Pearl Streets with the intent to renovate it into their headquarters.

An August 21st 1892 Reading Eagle article mentions the church had a footprint of 60 by 70 feet, and the current structure has a depth of 125 feet, so a considerable addition was constructed during these renovations. The article went on to describe the first level as a banquet hall with a kitchen as well as private meeting rooms. The second level was the main meeting hall.

Shortly after new year 1893 events started being promoted in the new space. The organization obviously held its own member-only events, but also regularly opened to the public for dances, lectures and concerts. These public events served as fundraisers for the many philanthropic avenues in which the Shriners donated their time and resources.

On June 28th, 1916 the Reading Times reported that the growing Shriners organization had met the night previous and decided to completely tear this building down and rebuild new in the same footprint including two adjoining properties they purchased. However, that November it was reported that the old Academy of Music on North 6th street was purchased instead as a new home. That building, which was 110 by 230 feet, was quite a bit larger than could be constructed on this lot. Unfortunately, in the early morning hours of May 10th a fire ravaged the upper floors of the old Academy of Music building. It was believed to be started by a discarded cigarette. Ironically, the day of the fire it was reported that the Shriners had purchased an adjoining property that was being razed to enlarge the structure. The organization was also set to host the “Imperial Potentate”, who is the the head of all of the shriner organizations nation wide, two days after the fire occured. They actually still held the event in the theatre of the half-burnt out building, which besides some water damage was largely unscathed.

There was one victim of the fire; fireman Charles F. Suender sliced open his finger while breaking a window to get a hose on the fire inside. While his wound was treated at the hospital, it led to an infection which killed him a week after it occurred. Within a month it was decided that the organization would raze the Academy structure and rebuild, and that “Rajah Theatre” structure still sits on north 6th street and is now known as the Santander Performing Arts Center.

The Shriners didn’t immediately part with their original building. In 1918 the property was promoted in the Reading Times as “Liberty Hall”, which housed a roller rink and dances. In 1919 they did finally sell the building and contents to Overland-Harper, which was an used automobile dealer expanding from Philadelphia into the Reading market. The new company renovated the building into their showroom and vehicle servicing space. I believe this may be when the first story was broken into two stories, making the former meeting hall into the third story. This was also likely when the large freight elevator was installed in the rear of the structure to take vehicles up to the area they could be serviced, painted and washed. In 1922 the business changed name to Loderick-Schmoyer Motor Co. and in 1925 Overland-Lingren Co.

Eventually the property changed hands again and became Dittman Motors in the mid-1940s until they moved in 1955. At that time Asam Wallpapers Inc, purchased the structure for their own operations which lasted until 1969.

In 1970 the main level of the building was subdivided into various offices, some of which were occupied by the IRS, WT Grant, Threshold Social Services, Berks Youth Services. In 1982 the property was sold to Frank Woolley & Co who produced polarized animations for the display industry. Wooley & Co. occupied the basement and part of the second story of the structure.

Since 1998, the first level of the building has been occupied by the Mosiac House Clubhouse, a subsidiary of Threshold services which provides a supportive community for those who struggle with mental illness to build skills and do meaningful work. Mosiac House is about to list the property for sale and plans to move out soon as they have a new location at Gregg Avenue and Angelica street in the 18th ward.

Some of the second and all of the third floor have been largely untouched since Dittman Motors vacated in 1955, and will need a large amount of work to redevelop. Hopefully we can keep this one out of a New York developer’s hands, and someone local with vision can give it new purpose.