The Staufer Building at 62 South 6th Street was constructed in Romanesque-style in 1897 by William M. Staufer. A large portion of the upper floors were devoted to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, who utilized the space to house young unemployed women who needed safe accommodations. A November 17th, 1897 Reading Eagle article about the building’s dedication quoted Mrs. Anna Hammer, state president of the W.C.T.U., “No class of people need more protection than the working girls of your city because the temptations are many. You have enough saloons in your city and it is time that Reading has at least one temperance building“.

Temperance movement advocate Reverend Krebs claimed, “I am proud of Reading as a city in some respects, but I can say nothing for her streets. They are a dangerous place for a girl who is alone and unprotected. Nowhere have I heard the vile talk that you hear on every street corner here. The street is a place where a girl will meet bad company and may make bad associations. Our streets are pools of iniquity“.

The Staufer Building boasted 31 rooms, 20 of which were apartments on the third and fourth floors. On the second story there was an auditorium for the W.C.T.U. to host events. There were also three spaces for businesses on the main level.

William M. Staufer

Staufer was a native of Chester County but moved to Reading in 1869. He first became associated with the Reading Stove Company, and later founded the Mt. Penn Stove Company. He and his wife resided at 129 South 6th Street, which was a half-block south of this building. For some time the couple had been involved in philanthropic efforts through St. Peter’s Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they were members. Staufer was also a strong Prohibitionist, and had been a mayoral candidate for the Prohibition Party. A November 16th, 1897 Reading Eagle article reported that, “he planned the work to be done there in all its detail and hopes that it may prove the means for the great good that he intends it to be.“

William Staufer died on May 3rd, 1911 of pneumonia in his home on South 6th and left the building in a trust which granted the building’s use to the W.C.T.U. perpetually.

1914 Fire

On February 13th, 1914 the building was gutted by a fire that started from a furnace in the basement near the elevator shaft. The loss was estimated to be around $12,000. Luckily, all tenants made it out safely. The building was covered by insurance and repaired by local contractor William A. Sharp. Staufer’s wife Susan died in 1916, and since the couple had no heirs the property continued to be managed by the trust installed by Staufer.

In 1967 the structure was sold by Staufer’s estate because it no longer had the means to financially manage it, which marked the end of the building being utilized as the headquarters of the W.C.T.U. By the 1980s the building was ironically home to a bar called the “Town Tavern“.

Through the decades a number of other businesses inhabited the building, including a fitness and dance studio on the second floor. It appears the building has been abandoned for over a decade, as it was added to the City’s blighted properties list in 2012.

Currently, the property is on the market again and listed at $279,000. The roof had previously collapsed, but it appears that has been fixed. Hopefully someone out there can polish this gem back into its former glory.