Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I, Part 47

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1018

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 47

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The post-office was located at No. 16 South

for its perpetual management, and when this was done he transferred to the "Charles Evans Ceme- tery Company" a tract of twenty-five acres in the northern section of the city, with the buildings thereon erected, representing an expenditure of $84,000. The present area embraces 127 acres, laid out in lots, and those sold 6,000; and burials to Jan. 1, 1909, 28,230. A fine bronze statue of the founder stands inside, facing the entrance. Many costly monuments have been erected, the most prominent being the "Soldiers' Monument" in granite, and "Christ on the Cross" in Italian marble.

In 1849, two cemeteries were laid out and es- tablished on the northern slope of Mt. Neversink, the "Trinity Lutheran" by the congregation of that name, and the "Roman Catholic" by St. Peter's congregation. And in 1851, the "Aulen- bach" was laid out along the southeast border of Reading. When these ceme- teries were established, burials in them were encouraged, and the remains of numerous persons in the different burying grounds were transferred to them.

TURNPIKES .- Turnpikes were projected along the prominent highways which ex- tended to the north, to the southeast and to the west of Reading to enable business men, farmers and travelers to carry on in- tercourse more quickly with near and dis- tant places. In 1805, the Centre Turnpike Company was incorporated to maintain a turnpike on the road to the north, leading to Sunbury, and before 1812 it was com- pleted. Tolls were collected until 1885, when it was abandoned and the charter for- feited. In 1810, another was incorporated

CITY HALL

Fifth street from 1793 to 1801; No. 146 North Fifth street, 1801 to 1829; No. 504 Penn Square, for a turnpike southeast to Perkiomen Mills and 1829 to 1841; No. 423 Penn Square, 1841 to 1845; Philadelphia; which was completed in 1814. It No. 508 Penn Square, 1845 to 1849; No. 533 Penn was conducted until 1902 when it was declared Square, 1849 to 1852; "State-house" (Fifth and free, the county having paid damages for appropri- Penn), 1852 to 1866; Sixth and Court streets, ating it. And in 1805, a third was incorporated for a turnpike west to Harrisburg; which was finished in 1817, and has been conducted until now .* Their connection with and value to Reading are not fully appreciated at this time, but for fifty years, from 1810 to 1860, they contributed a great deal toward its prosperity. To the stage business they were indispensable. 1866 to 1889; Federal building, Fifth and Wash- ington streets, since 1889. In 1887 the United States government commenced the erection of a fine, large building for a permanent post-office. The department took possession Sept. 16, 1889. The total cost was $180,000. In 1908, Congress appropriated $60,000 for an addition to the build- ing.

CITY HALL .- There was no separate building for

* Part made free from Reading to Wernersville.

MCKINLEY MONUMENT IN PENN COMMON

MONUMENT TO FIRST DEFENDERS IN PENN COMMON

FIREMEN'S MONUMENT IN PENN COMMON

G. A. R. MONUMENT IN CHARLES EVANS CEMETERY

197

READING

STAGE-COACHES .- The stage-coach was intro- from 1838 to 1874, when it was removed to the duced as the first public conveyance at Reading "Junction" where the Lebanon Valley railroad and in 1789 by Martin Hausman. It made weekly East Penn railroad connect with the P. & R. rail- road. The volume of business is enormous. In 1884, a station was established also at Franklin street. trips to and from Philadelphia, distance fifty-one miles; fare $2; letters 3d. The round trip was made in two days. William Coleman became the owner of the line in 1791, and from that time for seventy years the Coleman family was prominent- ly identified with the stage enterprise at Reading

STAGE-COACH

and in eastern Pennsylvania. This business was active for a long time, especially from 1810 to 1858; but it was discontinued as the railroads were ex- tended in different directions from Reading. Six stage lines still carry passengers, merchandise and mail as follows: northwest to Krick's Mill, and Bernville; south to Angelica and Terre Hill, and also to Plowville, Alleghenyville, and Hummel's Store; east to Boyertown, to Pleasantville, and to Friedensburg.

CANALS .- The canal, as a means of transporta- tion to and from Reading, was started in 1811. It was constructed along the Tulpehocken creek to its source, and thence along the Swatara creek to the Susquehanna river, being finished in 1828. It was known as the Union canal. It was very prosperous for a time, and many boats ran to and fro, carrying lumber, merchandise and passengers, but railroad competition caused it to be abandoned. The Schuylkill canal was constructed along the Schuylkill river from Pottsville to Philadelphia, especially for transporting coal. It was begun in 1817 and completed in 1822; and it was suc- cessfully carried on for over fifty years. It is now controlled by the P. & R. R. Company but little used.

STEAM RAILROADS .- Railroads were extended in 1878, this was also sold out by the sheriff, and in directions to correspond with the public roads; for a time the road was not operated.

southeast to Philadelphia, 58 miles, in 1838; north- west to Pottsville, 35 miles, in 1842; west to Har- risburg, 54 miles, in 1858; northeast to Allentown, 35 miles, in 1859 ; southwest to Lancaster, 42 miles, and to Columbia, 46 miles, in 1864; south to Wil- mington, 72 miles, in 1874; and north to Slating- ton, 44 miles, in 1874. The "West-Reading" was constructed in 1863, from the "Lebanon Valley" via Third street to and along Canal street, to ac-

The P. & R. R. Co. operate all the lines concen- trating at Reading, excepting the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley railroad. The passenger sta- tion was located at Seventh and Chestnut streets

The Schuylkill Valley railroad was extended along the Schuylkill river from Philadelphia to Reading in 1884, and to Pottsville in 1885. It is under the control of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company.

STREET RAILWAYS .- There was no street rail- way in Philadelphia until 1857, but during that year the first line was put down, and cars began to run in January, 1858.

The first move in this behalf at Reading was in 1865, when an Act was passed incorporating the "Reading Passenger Railway Company," to construct and operate street railways on Penn street, from Front to the Mineral Spring ; on Fifth and Centre avenue, and also on Sixth from Canal street northward to Hiester's Lane, beyond the cemetery ; and ninety-six of the most prominent business men and capitalists subscribed for stock. The construction was to be begun within one year and to be ended in five years, and the fare was to be five cents; but nothing was done. Several years afterward, an effort was made to establish an omnibus line, which was to run from the foot of Fifth street to the cemetery, but this also failed, after being operated for a while.

In 1873, another Act was passed, incorporating the Penn Street Passenger Railway Company, to construct and operate the Penn street line from Front street to Nineteenth. The construction was commenced early in 1874, working eastward and westward from Sixth street, and by August the road was open for travel with a single track. The cars were drawn by one horse, but soon afterward by two horses.

In one year, the road was sold by the sheriff and reorganized under the name of the Cen- tral Passenger Railway Company of Reading; but

In April, 1880, another reorganization was ef- fected under the name of the Perkiomen Avenue line. New cars were placed on the road, and its operation proved so successful that extensions were made along Ninth and Tenth streets, and then to the Mineral Spring, where a barn was erected for the cars and horses.

After all these lines had been laid, a consolida- tion of the two companies was effected in 1889 commodate the numerous enterprises in the west- under the name of the Reading City Passenger ern section of the city. It was operated by the Railway Company. In 1890, the Penn street line company for ten years; then transferred to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company.

was extended along Perkiomen avenue to Nine- teenth street from Thirteenth; and in 1891, a line was laid along Bingaman and Eighth streets.

At the same time that the Act was passed in 1873 for the Penn street line, another Act was passed for the Sixth street line, and the construc-

198

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

tion of it was then also started. Extensions were of the street car lines to the top of Mt. Penn and made as follows: In 1885, to the cemetery ; in 1886, thence by a circuitous route to the point of begin- to East Reading, via Laurel and Cotton streets, and also along Third, Fourth, Washington and Walnut streets; and in 1887, along Fifth street and Centre avenue, and along North Eleventh street.

In 1893, electricity was substituted for horses and a marked improvement in the service was im- mediately appreciated by the public, and the travel was increased very much.

The United Traction Company was organized in 1895 for the purpose of leasing and operating all the lines.

The East Reading line from Ninth street to the Black Bear Inn and to Stony Creek was con- structed in 1890, the Reading Electric Light and Power Company supplying the electric power to propel the cars. This line was the first at Reading to use electricity for street car service.

The Reading and Southwestern Railway Com- pany was organized in 1890 to operate a street rail- way from Third and Penn streets to Mohnsville by way of Shillington, a distance of five miles, and this was constructed in 1891 with an electric power plant at the foot of Chestnut street to propel its cars. In 1894 a branch was extended to Eleventh and Penn streets, by way of Franklin street, and to Nineteenth street by way of Eleventh, Spruce and Haak streets, for the purpose of making con- nection with the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad. In 1894, a steam railroad was constructed from the terminus at Mohnsville to Adamstown. In 1901 the Mohnsville line and its connections were leased to the United Traction Company, and since then have been operated by this company.

In 1894, a street railway line was extended from Reading west to Womelsdorf, a distance of fifteen miles, and since then has been operated by the Unit- ed Traction Company.

In 1902, a line was extended to Temple, five miles to the north, by the Reading and Temple Company, and another to Boyertown, eighteen miles to the east by way of Jacksonwald, Friedensburg and Shanesville, by the Oley Valley Railway Com- pany, from a point near the Stony Creek terminus of the East Reading line, both also operated by the United Traction Company. And in 1904, the Temple line was extended to Kutztown, thereby opening connection with the Allentown and Kutz- town line of street railway, which had been con- structed through Maxatawny township to Kutz- town in 1898.

Shortly before the line was laid along North Ninth street in 1886, Abraham F. Reeser and Lewis Kremp projected a line of herdic coaches to run the entire length of Ninth street and these coaches were run for a while, but not proving successful the enterprise was discontinued.

ning, altogether eight miles long. The cars are drawn to the top one and a half miles by a steam engine, and also by electric power, but they des- cend by gravity six and two-thirds miles. In April, 1898, an electrical equipment was supplied to propel the cars by trolley. A stone tower fifty feet high is at the top. Total elevation, twelve hun- dred feet above the sea, and one thousand feet above Reading. The view from this tower em- braces an area of territory thirty miles square. Prominent points can be seen in the six adjoin- ing counties, Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuylkill and Lehigh. A large pavil- ion for dancing is connected with the tower; and to the north, near by, there is another for playing ten-pins, shuffle-boards, and billiards. Investment, $150,000.

The "Summit House," a three-story stone build- ing, was erected in 1890, near the tower, by Henry and William Schwartz. The railroad in descend- ing passes four other resorts: "Kuechler's," "Stei- gerwald's," "Spuhler's," and "Mineral Spring."

The Neversink Mountain Railroad Company was organized in 1889, and in 1890 the company laid a track eight miles long from Ninth and Penn streets around and across the mountain to Klap- perthal. It has an investment of $250,000. Su- perior views from different points overlook Read- ing and the surrounding country for many miles. A power-house was erected at the Big Dam at the same time to propel the company's cars with electricity, but it was leased to the Metropolitan Electric Company, which now provides the neces- sary power for the cars. A fine pavilion for danc- ing was erected by the company along the road, opposite the "Highland House."

TELEGRAPH .- Reading was reached by telegraph in 1847 along the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, thereby opening communication with Philadelphia to the south and Pottsville to the north, and inter- vening points. As the other railroads were es- tablished, additional telegraph lines were extend- ed in the same directions from Reading. In 1879, this concentrated system was connected with the Western Union lines, thereby opening direct com- munication with all parts of the United States. The office at Reading has come to do an enormous business, the commercial messages alone (not in- cluding the railway business and the extensive newspaper service) averaging one thousand, eight hundred every day. It is open all the year.

There are in use in Reading by this company sixty wires with a total length of two hundred miles ; also the call bell system for messenger and cab service and to deliver letters and packages ; and a storage battery and motor generator have been substituted in the place of the gravity bat- tery. This company enjoys the distinction of be-

MOUNTAIN RAILROADS .- In 1889, the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad Company was organized, and in ing the oldest in continuous service in the United 1890 it constructed a railroad from the east end States.

DE NNSYLVANIA

COMPANY.

5X10Y35

SOUTH SIDE OF PENN SQUARE, LOOKING WEST FROM SIXTH STREET

199

READING

To accommodate the increasing business, a "du- of the whole plant and the use of hard-drawn cop- plex" of the largest kind was introduced in 1897 per wire and of imported superior cedar poles. on the direct wire between Reading and New York, by which two messages can be sent over the same wire at the same time in opposite direc- tions. Another is in daily use between Reading and Philadelphia for the exclusive accommodation of the railroad business.

The company operates at this office one hundred self-winding synchronizing clocks, distributed in different parts of Reading, and regulated hourly by observatory time from Washington, D. C. These clocks were first introduced here in 1891.

In 1880, the Lehigh Telegraph Company was organized and formed connection with Reading. The line passed through several hands. Now it is known as the Postal Telegraph Cable Company. It has at Reading twenty miles of wire, three op- erators, six messengers, transmits and receives 100, 000 messages annually, and has connection with 29,756 places.

TELEPHONE .- The first telephone company in Pennsylvania was organized at Philadephia in 1878, and in 1879 Henry W. Spang introduced the in- strument at Reading. Obtaining from councils the right to maintain overhead wires, he established an exchange in the Eagle building, Sixth and Penn streets, in October, 1879. He began with ten in- struments and after carrying on the business until January, 1881, he sold it to the East Pennsylvania Telephone Company. By that time he had intro- duced one hundred and twenty-four instruments at Reading, seventy-four at Pottsville, and twenty- three at Lebanon.

In December, 1882, the Pennsylvania Telephone Company became the owner. By 1895, the wires overhead had become so numerous that the com- pany prepared to put them underground where most numerous in the central part of the city, and, anticipating this undertaking, purchased a prop- erty at Nos. 31-33 North Fifth street, altered it to meet the demands of the business and equipped it with the most improved electrical appliances.

During 1895, 1896 and 1897 the first conduits were laid along Fifth, Court, Penn and Cherry streets, together measuring seventy thousand feet and containing one thousand miles of copper wire (there being eight cables, each comprising two hun- dred and two wires). Reading was the third city in Pennsylvania where wires were laid under- ground, Pittsburg being the first, and Philadelphia the second. The company took possession of its new quarters in February, 1896.

In 1879, the service was conducted on a single iron wire, and the longest distance over which a conversation could be carried on successfully was from thirty to fifty miles, but the introduction of electricity for propelling street cars and for public lighting rendered the telephone service on the sin- gle wire system practically useless, and the company was obliged, at great expense, to substitute the two- wire system, which necessitated a reconstruction

The Reading Exchange in February, 1908, com- prised 3,332 subscribers at Reading, and 444 in the surrounding districts of Berks county. It is open day and night throughout the year; employs 45 operators and answers from 20,000 to 25,000 calls daily; total employes in the county, 115. The en- tire territory of the company embraces 38 counties (36 in Pennsylvania and 2 in New Jersey), and about 1,000 persons are constantly employed. The company has altogether nearly 36,000 subscribers, with communication in all the States reached by the long distance telephone, from the lakes to the gulf of Mexico, and from Maine to Colorado.

The Consolidated Telephone Company of Penn- sylvania established an exchange at Reading in 1902, and since then has introduced all the latest improvements.

[See Chapter II, INDUSTRY OF COUNTY, under head of Telegraph and Telephone lines.]

GAS LIGHT .- The inhabitants of Reading used tallow candles and oil for producing light during the first and second periods of its history. In 1848 the Reading Gas Company was formed by a num- ber of enterprising citizens for introducing gas, and it supplied many dwellings, stores, shops, the Court-House and streets and the City Hall until 1885, when the plant was leased to the Consumers Gas Company. The works are situated at the foot of Fifth street. In 1861 a telescope gasometer was erected at the works with a capacity of 75,000 feet ; in 1873, another on Elm street, near Fourth, with a capacity of 360,000 feet; and in 1901 a third, at the foot of Fifth street, with a capacity of 500,000 feet. The total capacity of the company is now over two million feet. The total length of main pipe in use covers seventy-eight miles, and all the consumers number fifteen thousand. David Fox was the superintendent from 1857 to 1887, and John H. Keppelman from 1887 to the present time.

ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER .- In 1883, the Read- ing Electric Light and Power Company was formed to supply electric light and power to the local gov- ernment and to private consumers, and then it es- tablished a plant at Eighth and Cherry streets, where it remained for some years. The company afterward erected a superior power-house on South Seventh street, near Chestnut, and in 1894 leased the plant to the Metropolitan Electric Company, which had been organized shortly before. The lat- ter company largely increased the plant and equip- ment. It has in use twenty engines whose com- bined horse-power is 10,000. It supplies the city with 800 arc lights and 300 incandescents ; and private consumers with 950 arc, and 20,000 incan- descents.

A storage system was established on Chestnut street, east of Seventh, in 1903, with capacity of 740 amperes.

200

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

A new power plant is being erected at the out- The greater part of the area has a gentle declination let of the Wyomissing creek opposite Reading westward from Mount Penn to the river and affords which will be completed by the end of 1909, and superior drainage. The territory to the northward the total cost of the improvement to the traction and lighting systems is estimated at $2,000,000.

STEAM HEAT .- In 1887, Isaac McHose, William McIlvain, Levi Quier, John R. Miller, James Nolan and others, organized the Reading Steam Heat and Power Company for the purpose of supplying public and private buildings in Reading with steam heat, and a large plant was established on Elm street, near Reed, comprising ten boilers with a capacity of 1,800 horse-power. Mains were put down along Fifth, Sixth, Elm, Walnut, Washington and Penn streets, with total length exceeding ten thousand feet, and three hundred patrons were secured. The plant has been improved and the patrons have been increased under the management of Jerome L. Boyer since 1905. John R. Miller has been the president of the company since its incorporation, and Lewis Crater the secretary and treasurer.

HALLS .- Before 1846, there were no public halls at Reading for public meetings or amusements. A large room on the second floor of the State-House at Fifth and Penn streets was used for these pur- poses from 1793 to 1840 and then the large audi- torium in the Court-House began to be used.

In 1846 the Odd Fellows (a beneficial society of Reading) erected a four-story brick building on the southwest corner of Fifth and Franklin streets, to provide a meeting place for their lodges, on the third and fourth floors, and also a large hall for amusement purposes, on the second floor. It was a popular place for receptions, assemblies, balls, and public meetings for fifty years. In 1868 it became the property of the Reading Library Company.

During the succeeding twenty-five years, several other halls were erected, notably the "Keystone," at Sixth and Court, the "Aulenbach," on Penn above Sixth, and "Breneiser's," at Eighth and Penn.

Joseph Mishler erected the first modern hall at Reading in 1872. It was at No. 533 Penn Square and many high class entertainments were given there until 1886. It was called the "Academy of Music," and had a seating capacity of 1,800.

There are numerous halls at Reading for social meetings of all kinds, but only those for amuse- ment and balls can be mentioned.

For amusement: Grand Opera-House, 1873; Academy of Music, 1886 (North Sixth street) ; Y. M. C. A. Hall, 1895; Masonic Hall, 1897; Bijou Theatre, 1894.

For balls: Maennerchor Hall, 1874; Deppen's Hall, 1884; Rajah Temple, 1892 ; Auditorium, 1895.

LOCATION OF CITY .- The lines enclosing the plan of Reading form an irregular figure, about three miles long and two and one-half miles wide; and the tract contains about four thousand acres. The eastern boundary line is along the base of Mount Penn, and the western along the west bank of the Schuylkill, the latter being nearly five miles long.

and southward comprises the Schuylkill Valley and that to the westward the Lebanon Valley.

ELEVATIONS ABOVE SEA LEVEL

Mount Penn. 1,110 feet

Mount Neversink 800 feet

Egelman Reservoir 672 feet

Antietam Lake. . 510 feet

Hampden Reservoir .. 445 feet

Charles Evans Cemetery.

373 feet

Penn Street Reservoir

345 feet

Fifth and Penn Streets 239 feet

Front and Penn Streets.

180 feet

RELIGION AND EDUCATION

CHURCHES

Three religious congregations were organized at Reading in 1751, Friends, Lutherans and Reformed, and they then caused churches to be erected. The last two still maintain their churches in the same locality with a large membership. The Roman Catholics began in 1755, and the Protestant Epis- copalians in 1763. These and other congregations together contributed an influence in behalf of the moral and social welfare of the community that can- not be fully measured. The major part of the peo- ple of Reading, connected with the denominations, have always been Lutherans and Reformed, these two having the largest proportion of congrega- tions, and the Reformed denomination having the greatest number of members.

There are twenty-three different religious denom- inations at Reading, which have altogether seventy- six churches. In the statement which follows, they are arranged in the order of priority, and the year mentioned after each congregation signifies the time when it was organized, or when the church was improved. Sunday-schools are conducted with the several congregations.

STATEMENT OF CHURCHES AT READING

Lutheran

Name

Founded

Pastor

Members 1,625

Trinity

1751-1791

Edward T. Horn

Chapel

1873-1891

St. Matthew's

1844-1890

G. W. Nicely

425

St. James

1850-1892

M. L. Zweizig

660

St. John's

1860-1896

J. J. Kuendig

1,520

Chapel

1874

F. K. Huntzinger

1,600

Grace Peace

1877-1888

J. F. Snyder

Hope

1885-1904

H. W. Warmkessel

676

St. Mark's

1890-1900

E. S. Brownmiller

490

St. Paul's

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Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I, Part 47

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1018

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1018