On this Day, March 13th, 1993 – “The Storm of the Century”

30 Years has passed since the Blizzard of 1993. It was initially described as “The Storm of the Century“, but only three years later the Blizzard of 1996 hit which easily topped this storm for that title.

Storm of the Century

Late on the night of Friday, March 12th, 1993 the storm hit Berks County. In the days before the storm it was predicted to be large, but forecasters were uncertain whether the precipitation would be rain or snow.… Read Full Article

Joseph John Wiater – Reading’s Untamable Boy

Foreward
As usual, subject matter seems to find me. I was searching for information on Green Hills Theater; a popular destination on Route 10 to see theatrical performances in the mid-20th century. Look for that article sometime in the future. However, during the course of research, I found the curious case of Joseph John Wiater, a very tenacious boy turned convict from Reading.… Read Full Article

“Lizzie Lincoln” House – The Real Story

If you ask anyone about the “Lizzie Lincoln House”, including the internet, you will get varying results; mostly the regurgitation of conjecture based on legends. I more than anyone love a good ghost story, but what is more important to me than all else is that there be truth behind it. I put in the work and found the complete story…at least, as complete as it can possibly be with the passing of 200 years since it began.Read Full Article

Witch’s Hat & Neversink Mountain Hotel

Like Mt. Penn, Neversink had its own railroad loop that started at South 9th street and wrapped all the way around the mountain to Klapperthal Junction. The other resorts on Neversink mountain were Centennial Springs Hotel, Glen Hotel, and the Highland house; which famously had the vertical rail known as “Ganser’s Incline” going from 13th Street straight up the mountain.… Read Full Article

The Grand Hotel Fire – On this Day 1953

The Grand Hotel, on the northwest corner of Seventh and Franklin Streets, and the Weidner and Bucks magazine store on the right show no outward signs of a fire in which one man died, two others were sent to a hospital and $22,500 damage resulted early today. The fire was confined to the interior of the hotel in about the center of the structure, and to the roof and third floor of the magazine store.Read Full Article

Berks Nostalgia