This was originally posted on July 29th, 2024 to Berks Nostalgia’s facebook page, I have since added some more info and am reposting it here.

Everyone likes to dump on Reading for its blighted properties (and it’s generally warranted) but lets put Shillington in the spotlight and examine the building on the southwest corner of Lancaster Avenue and Sterley Street – which has sat condemned for years.

The March 5th, 1911 Reading Eagle announced that the Shillington Hotel was nearing completion. It was to take the place of the borough’s previous hotel and saloon, the “Three-Mile House“, which had been completely destroyed by a fire in 1909. The Reading Eagle article described it,

“It is a four-story brick structure and contains 28 rooms. There are baths and toilets on each floor. The fourth floor consists of a hall that will seat 600 people. Access to the hall is had from the Sterley Street side. The first floor contains a bar room, ladies waiting room, office, dining room, large kitchen and pantry. The bar room is furnished in mission style.”

Near the end of its first decade in operations, the hotel became known for some of the seedy behavior of the patrons.

In July 1920 an article in the Reading Times complained of a group of “rowdies” who loitered around the hotel and threw stones at passing vehicles and people. In December of 1920 the Reading Times ran a front page story about how Samuel Steg, a boarder at the hotel, had been beaten, robbed and left unconscious in a back room.

On February 19th, 1921 the Reading Times reported that 300 residents of Shillington had had enough; they signed a petition to protest the renewal of the establishment’s liquor license. The article claimed that the establishment was “a loafing place” where, “young men stand outside, insult women as they pass, are loud and boisterous in manner and use profane and vile language and conduct themselves indecently.” The article also mentions that by this time the rooms on the upper floors were no longer used in a hotel capacity, but were rented out to longer-term tenants.

Berks County Judge Wagner ultimately granted the liquor license renewal, but told the proprietor its continuance hinged on his ability to clean up the establishment.

It is unclear whether the clean-up occurred, but only six months later it was announced that the building would be remodeled and become “Shillington Bank”. The renovations, including a new cement vault, were completed in 1922. The antiquated “Burglar Alarm” apparatus still is visible on the east side of the building. Due to the Great Depression gutting small community banks, Shillington Bank merged with the Mohnton Trust Company in 1934 and moved operations to the Mohnton Trust Company’s location. It would be completely defunct by the end of the 1930s.

The building has been home to various businesses since but most recently housed “The Runner’s Shop“.

The property was purchased in 2020 by PRR 200 LLC., and shortly after the building was condemned and tenants given 30 days to leave the premises. Owner PRR 200 LLC declared bankruptcy in October 2023. According to the minutes of a June 2023 borough council meeting they owed Shillington $15k in fines for violations. I always found the big beautiful porches a unique feature of this structure, but it appears they are in danger of collapse within feet of a major roadway.