USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > The story of Berks County (Pennsylvania) > Part 16
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The Kutztown Journal is a German newspaper that has been published since 1870. The Kutztown Patriot, an English paper, has been published since 1874. The Normal Vidette is a paper of the Keystone State Normal School, which is located immediately west of the borough. Its first issue appeared in 1894, and it aims to keep the graduates and friends informed as to the School's condition. The town has four churches and one of the finest High School Buildings in the State.
LENHARTSVILLE.
The Lenhart family settled at the point where this borough is located long before the county was organized. The borough was in- corporated in 1887, but the town bore the name one hundred years earlier. It is located in Greenwich Township along the Maidencreek. The post office was established in 1854.
In the town there are two hotels, three stores, a blacksmith shop and about fifty houses. Several grist mills gave the town prominence from its early history and made it a business center. It was the center for several stage lines for many years.
The Maidencreek Charcoal Furnace was erected in 1854, a short distance from the village. It became an important shipping point when the Berks County Railroad was built in 1874. There is a flourishing shirt factory employing twenty-five hands.
Lenhartsville has long been quite a suminer resort. Pure drink- ing water is derived from mountain springs. The Maidencreek, one of the county's picturesque streams, flows by the town and affords splendid fishing.
222
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
MOHNTON.
This town is in the Wyomissing valley five miles from Reading. In 1840 it contained a small log-house, and some pasture land, overgrown with brambles. Benjamin Mohn secured possession of it soon thereafter and erected a mill. The manufacture of hats became an important business. The house which Mr. Mohn erected was later changed into a tavern. Factories soon were built upon the creek and houses were erected upon the adjoining hills for the people who were employed in them. The post office was established in 1857, and the borough in 1907.
The Wyomissing furnishes good water-power and different factories sprang up along its course. Besides grist mills and wool- hat factories, a gun-barrel factory was operated for a number of years. The town now contains bakeries, cigar factory, grist mill. cotton lap factory, hosiery mills, paper box factory, planing mills, saw mill, shirt factories, wheelwright shops, electric light plant. water works and the like. The Mohnton Auditorium is the largest in the county, outside Reading.
The Reading and Southwestern Electric Railway passes through Mohnton to Adamstown where it connects with a line to Lancaster. The town has three churches and a bank. Pennwin is a new town near the eastern border of the borough.
MOUNT PENN.
Dengler's, a suburb of Reading was incorporated as a borough in 1902 and named Mount Penn. George Dengler, a prominent citizen of the place, owned most of the land before 1866. The tavern he conducted at this place was a popular stopping place for teamsters on their way to Philadelphia with grain. The post office was established in 1884, and the town was supplied with water in 1903. The Aulenbach Cemetery was established in 1851, and the Antietam filtering beds, belonging to Reading, in 1905.
The first industry in the town was a carriage factory, which was opened in 1867. The town has the following business places: organ factory, paper bag factory, coal yard and a general store. Woodvale, adjoining Mount Penn, was laid out in 1884.
223
BERKS BOROUGHS
SHILLINGTON.
This borough is located in Cumru Township in the vicinity of what for years was known as the "Three-mile House." It was organized into a borough in 1908, and named after Samuel Shilling, who, in 1848, bought most of the land upon which the town was founded in 1860. The post office was established in 1884, and the town was connected with Reading by trolley in 1890. The county poor-house adjoins the borough on the east.
The borough has a grist mill, hot houses, cigar factories, hosiery mills, planing mill, a number of stores, hotel, butcher shops, bakery, hat factory, blacksmith shops, tinsmith shop, wheelwright shop and the like. The town has three churches and a large modern school building.
The "Three-mile House" race course was a popular place for horse breeders for many years, but in 1912 it was abandoned and the ground laid out in building lots.
SINKING SPRING.
This borough derives its name from a spring of water, which is located at the eastern end of the town. The spring has a periodic flow, at times sinking out of sight entirely. Because of this pecu- liarity the spring was named "Sinking Spring" and the town and post office were also given that name. The first settlers came to this place as early as 1728.
The place was founded in 1831 and was incorporated as a borough in March, 1913. The first election for borough officers was held April 22, 1913.
At this place there is a splendid object lesson, which demon- strates the advancement in public education. At the eastern end of the town stands an eight-cornered stone building, which was used as a school house in the early days. Near the center of the borough stands a splendid modern school building, two stories high, and surrounded by a large playground that is almost ideal.
The borough marks the junction of the Reading & Columbia and Lebanon Valley Railroads.
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224
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
St. John's Reformed Church, near the western end of the + borough, was founded in 1792. The building was erected the fol- lowing year. In 1817 a pipe organ was installed and in 1851 an addition was erected and the present steeple constructed. The original building is said to have been one of the finest in eastern Pennsylvania at that time. The Sunday School chapel was dedi- cated in 1885.
The borough has two hosiery mills, a foundry, two cigar fac- tories, a flour mill, an electric light plant, three coal and lumber yards, besides the usual other business places. There are four hotels and three churhces.
TOPTON.
Early History. This town was incorporated in 1877. It was started with the construction of the East Penn Railroad. It is lo- cated in Longswamp Township and was so named because it is the highest point on the railroad between Allentown and Reading. It became a great center for the shipping of iron ore soon after the completion of the railroad. The post office was established in 1861.
In 1871 an iron furnace was established. This was the leading industry for many years. A furniture factory was established in . 1880 and a flour mill in 1885. Both have been doing a prosperous business ever since. Great improvements have been made since 1900. Water was supplied to the town in 1893.
Besides the above there is an underwear factory, silk mill, hosiery mill, creamery, bakery, three hotels, three stores, bank, lumber and coal yards, a foundry, machine shop and a few minor industries. The furniture factory was recently made a branch of the Boyertown Casket factory.
In 1897, the Lutheran Orphans' Home was erected on an ele- vation a short distance south of the borough. It has now about one hundred inmates and is well supported. Every year an ex- cursic 7 is made to the home from various sections. The visitors on these occasions bring liberal contributions.
225
BERKS BOROUGHS
LUTHERAN ORPHANS' HOME.
226
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
WEST LEESPORT.
This borough is the only town in Bern Township, from which it was taken. It is situated nine miles north of Reading' on the west bank of the Schuylkill River along the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. It was part of a large tract which the Reesers bought of the Penns. The members of the family gave four acres of land with the understanding that the Railroad Company would place a station at this point. The name is derived from Leesport on the opposite side of the river, which was named after Samuel Lee, who laid out building lots in 1840. The town was in- corporated into a borough in 1901. The post office was established in 1872.
In 1893 a company was organized for the manufacture of hosiery. The mill was operated for several years, then abandoned. In 1899 the machinery was sold and the purchasers are still oper- ating the plant. There is an establishment for manufacturing vari- ous kinds of brushes.
At the station large quantities of goods are received and ship- ped daily, this being a distributing point for a considerable area of the country.
West Leesport is especially noted as a milk shipping point. There are several stores, coal and lumber yard, and two hotels.
WEST READING.
In 1864 William Leinbach sold his farm of one hundred and sixteen acres to Frederick R. Frill who laid it out in town lots. This later became West Reading. Another tract was laid out in lots later. In 1908 the town which grew up was incorporated into a borough. The post office was established in 1892.
The West Reading Water Company, which supplies the town, was organized in 1886. A chemical engine is owned by the West Reading Fire Company which protects the property against fire.
Industries. A brick yard, started about 1847, makes five million bricks annually and employs a number of hands. Stone crushing machinery is operated very successfully, supplying the city of Read- ing with an excellent product.
227
BERKS BOROUGHS
A hat factory employs about three hundred hands. The Keyser Manufacturing Company manufactures sheep and grass shears which are sold in all parts of the world. A number of hands are employed in a large factory for the manufacture of sun bonnets, children's plain clothing and dry goods specialties.
A flour mill turns out a fine product.
Many hundred pounds of summer sausage are produced an- nually ; hard and soft soaps are manufactured; an oi! station has been established; and a coal yard with up-to-date chutes is suc- cessfully conducted.
A line of railroad was built through the town in 1902 for the purpose of running coal and freight trains around Reading to avoid the crowding of the tracks through the city.
Reformed and Lutheran denominations have churches in the town.
Other industries or places of business are: brass works, vari- ous kinds of stores, meat markets, several hotels, garages, car- riage works, blacksmith shops and wheelwright shops.
WOMELSDORF.
Womelsdorf is the second oldest borough of Berks County, and is situated close to its western boundary line, about 14 miles west of the city of Reading, on the Berks and Dauphin Turnpike. The town was laid out in 1762, by John Womelsdorf, who had moved thither from the Amity settlement in 1760. The original plan con- tained seventy-five lots, being a part of the historical Weiser farm located in Heidelberg Township. The proprietor named it Middle- town from its location midway between Reading and Lebanon. This name it bore until 1807, when a post office was established and was named Womelsdorf in honor of the founder of the town.
The first house, a hotel, was built in 1762, by Jacob Seltzer. This building was one of the old landmarks until 1870, when it was razed to the ground. The stones were used in the cellar walls of the mansion erected by Eli Fidler on the adjoining lot. The hotel site is now oc- cupied by the row of brick houses on the north side of East High Street, built in 1904. The old structure was a substantial one, having
228
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
been built of large limestone blocks. It is remembered as the place where the first President of the United States, George Washington, stopped for the night on the thirteenth of November, 1793, on his tour through Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and other Pennsylvania towns. The town was incorporated in 1833, embracing within its limits portions of the townships of Heidelberg and Marion.
Industries. In the early days of Womelsdorf, hats were made, tanneries were conducted, and guns were manufactured. These activities have long since ceased.
One of the early industries of the town was the manufacture of flour. Seltzer's mill, at the lower end of the town, was the first to be erected. It was run by water-power supplied by a South Mountain stream. This mill was rebuilt in 1862 and in 1877 steam-power was added.
1
On the banks of the Tulpehocken in the northwestern part of the borough was another grist mill. This was totally destroyed by fire in 1900. It was rebuilt soon afterwards and the roller process installed.
For years, however, the chief occupation of the borough has been the manufacture of cigars. This industry was introduced in 1852. The business was begun in a modest way, but by perseverance and shrewd business tact, a trade has been established that has be- come national in its scope. Since 1882, one factory has occupied the Seibert mansion on High Street. With its spacious grounds it con- stitutes one of the finest factories of the state. Several other factories have been established since.
Another industry which has meant progress for Womelsdorf is the manufacture of hosiery. The borough has two large stores, carry- ing general merchandise, two grocery stores and a pharmacy. The Womelsdorf Union Bank was established in 1903.
The Lebanon Valley Railroad has its station just outside the borough limits and the terminal of an electric road is located in the the western part. This road connects the borough with the city of Reading.
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229
BERKS BOROUGHS
WYOMISSING.
This beautiful borough, incorporated in 1907, is located on the Lebanon Valley Railroad, about one and three-fourth miles west of Reading. It was so named after the creek which passes through it.
Its buildings are new, handsome and up-to-date in every respect. The borough hall is the finest structure of its kind in the county and the school building is of the very latest design.
In the borough there are many flourishing industries : The Tex- tile Machine Works, in which are manufactured braid and knitting machines and other light machinery; the Narrow Fabric Works, where shoe lacers and other narrow fabrics are manufactured; the Reading Shale Brick Company, whose output of building and paving brick is enormous; the Berkshire Knitting Mills, which turn out a splendid grade of full fashioned hosiery; and the Wyomissing Plan- ing Mill, where a tremendous amount of finished material is turned out every year. There is another knitting mill which turns out a fine grade of hose.
The people take exceptional interest in the affairs of the bor- ough, having a splendidly equipped playground which furnishes en- joyment for old and young throughout the summer. During the winter lectures, dances and musicales are frequently held to the delight of all.
There is a splendid and adequate supply of water received from the Sinking Spring and Wyomissing Springs.
A Civic League (Women's) has been organized which is very active and is doing splendid work. A public library started by the league is very commendable.
Many of the residents take especial pride in gardening and vie with one another in good-natured rivalry as to who can raise the finest flowers and the best crops.
230
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
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WYOMISSING HIGH SCHOOL.
231
BERKS BOROUGHS
IMPORTANT STATISTICS OF THE BOROUGHS,
1912.
Founded.
Incorporated.
Population.
Schools.
Churches.
Taxables.
Registered Voters.
Mercantile Licenses.
2 2 3 Wo Lo & Liquor Licenses.
Wards.
Property Valuation.
1. Bally
1740|1912
375|
2
3
1
75
1
2. Bechtelsville
1852 1890
417
2
1
157 132 13
2
1
$ 148,300
3. Bernville
1819 1851
308
2
2
147 104 18
1
138,440
4. Birdsboro
1760|1872|2,930|14|
6
828 762 47
2
1,269,034
5. Boyertown
1835 1866|2,433|14
7
903 703 72
4
1 1,394,123
6. Centreport
1868 1884
111
0
0
48
34
6
1
53,570
7. Fleetwood
1800|1873 1,394
6
4
1 563
1
718,156
8. Hamburg
1779|1837 2,301|12|
997,980
9. Kutztown
1779|1815|2.360| 9
5 2|1,023 725 |71
8
1 1,267,163
10. Lenhartsville
1854 1887| 153|
1
1
0 581 52|10
2
1 65,610
11. Mohnton
1850 1907|1,536|
9
3
1 501|412 26
2
1
364,380
12. Mount Penn
1800|1902|
7851
4
2
0
334|240 21
2
1
530,690
13. Shillington
1860|1908|1,427|
7
3
0
657|412 21 1
472,945
14. Sinking Spring
|1831|1913|1,200|
7
0
360|325|10|
4
1
564,000
15. Topton
|1859|1875| 809|
41
2
1 352 248 28
3
1
427,908
16. West Leesport
1842|1901| 436|
3
2 0 188|128 11
2
1
162,130
17. West Reading
1873|1907|2,064|
9|
2| 0
743|574 44
2
1
833,590
18. Womelsdorf
1762|1833|1,301|
7/
21
1|
503|370|27|
4
1
578,732
19. Wyomissing
1896|1906
985]
61
1
0
676|285|11|
2
1| 954,344
1 1 NHHOH Banks. 0 2
2!
978|734 77
8
2
1
0
417 27
4
--
3
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CITY OF READING.
Early History. (1748 to 1783.) Reading was laid out as a town in 1748, by Thomas and Richard Penn. The land had been bought by Thomas Lawrence, who resold it to the Penns. The tract lay on the east side of the Schuylkill River, at the place where it was crossed by the road from Tulpehocken. It was called Reading after a town of that name in Berkshire, England.
Lebanon was then the nearest town. It was located twenty-eight miles to the west and was laid out in 1740. At that time there was but one house where Reading is now located, and the nearest church was a little to the north in Alsace Township. There were five hundred and twenty-two town lots and two hundred and four out lots. It took four years to sell the first two hundred and forty-one lots. The Lutherans had a Meeting house as early as 1750, and the Reformed and Friends before 1760. The Baptists, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics had meetings in the dwellings of members, but probably no church before 1780. Each religious denomination had its own school.
Prominent Buildings. The first business place was the store of Conrad Weiser, erected in 1750, near Fifth and Penn Streets, the site of the present Stichter Hardware Store. It passed from the Weiser's to the Keim's and then to the Stichter's. It was known as the "Old White Store."
The first County Prison was erected in 1770, at Fifth and Wash- ington Streets. This building was razed to the ground in 1911.
The two lower stories of the Farmers' Hotel, northwest corner of Fifth and Washington Streets, were erected in 1760, by Michael Brecht. This is the oldest building in Reading.
The Farmers National Bank building was erected in 1763. It was known as the Witman Tavern until Washington's visit, after which it was named the Federal Inn. The Rainbow Fire Company was organized in 1773.
233
THE CITY OF READING
DOITI
100000000000007
00000C
1000000 43 10000577
-
14
0000000000024
7000000004
70000000000001
1000:00
1700000000000
0000000000
(CITY OF
READING BERKS Co PENNS
MAP OF READING.
234
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
FARMERS RITK
FEDERAL INN.
When the Indians crossed the Blue Mountains during the French and Indian War, soldiers were quartered in Reading to insure the safety of the people. Conrad Weiser was their commander, as well as Indian interpreter.
During the Revolution, Edward Biddle was to Reading what Weiser had been during the time of the Indian War. He formed companies of troops, collected money and stores. The town was a military post and contained barracks for prisoners.
Industries. About this time home-made nails, horseshoes, locks, clothing, blankets and carpet were made. Hats, dried fruits, smoked meats and lumber were matters of local manufacture. Such things as sugar, tea, turpentine and some varieties of cloth were brought from Philadelphia by wagons.
235
THE CITY OF READING
Dams shaped like a V were made at intervals in the Schuylkill to send grain, hay, hats, wool and merchandise of various kinds to Philadelphia upon flat-bottomed boats which were pulled by men. In the spring of the year hundreds of tons were sent in this way be- fore the canal was finished.
Hunting and Fishing. Hunting and fishing, in those days, were both interesting and remunerative, the forest being extensive and the waters unpolluted. Bears were numerous, and many were shot in the vicinity of Reading. Deer, rabbits, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and pigeons were plentiful. Pigeons flew in such numbers as to obscure the sun. Gunning for food, as well as for profit, was com- mon with every man.
Large game is now seldom seen in the County. At the close of the gunning season of 1912, however, a large black bear was shot on the Pinnacle in Albany Township.
Fishermen were just as successful in the early days as were gun- ners. Shad were abundant in the vicinity of Poplar Neck and made that section famous as a fishing ground. It was preferred by the Indians above all other districts.
Net, gig and rod and line were principally used in catching fish, which with game. furnished the chief food for the early inhabitants.
The market days were Wednesday and Saturday of each week, when rows of farmers' wagons were backed up against the curb along Penn Square. The market people usually took their places as early as three o'clock in the morning.
Reading became the County Seat when the county was erected in 1752, and this made it necessary to erect public buildings. Until these were provided, private dwellings were used as offices. The first Court House was erected on Penn Square in 1762. Until the Revolu- tion one clerk held all the offices. Permission was procured from the State Legislature to hold markets and Fairs. As early as 1762 more than thirty licenses were issued for taverns in Reading. When Reading became the County Seat, the town had one hundred thirty (130) dwelling houses and one hundred sixty (160) families which con- sisted of three hundred seventy-eight (378) persons.
1
236
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
OLD COURT HOUSE.
Reading as a Borough. (1783 to 1847.) At the close of the Revolution, Reading contained two thousand people, of whom about . nine-tenths were Germans. It was incorporated into a borough in 1783. At this time Womelsdorf, Hamburg, Kutztown and Birdsboro were laid out as towns. The first newspaper was published in German, in 1789, and the first post office was established in 1793. A daily mail was received from Philadelphia. Letters were sheets folded and sealed with red wax.
237
THE CITY OF READING
The first bridge across the Schuylkill in the vicinity of Reading was erected in 1810, near where the Schuylkill Avenue bridge now crosses the river. The first Penn Street bridge was erected in 1816, and in 1831 the first bridge was erected across the river at the foot of Bingaman Street.
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OLD PENN ST. BRIDGE.
Three Fire Companies, in addition to the Rainbow, were organ- ized during this period. They were: Junior, 1813; Reading, 1819; Neversink, 1829. A costly fire occurred May 5, 1820, when six valu- able buildings on Penn Street were burned.
WATER COMPANIES ORGANIZED.
Wells supplied the water exclusively until 1821, when the Read- ing Water Company was organized. A reservoir was erected at the head of Penn Street, and the water from Hampden Spring conveyed into it through wooden pipes .. The spring had a daily flow of 100,000 gallons.
The present Court House was built in 1840, and the railroad was completed to Reading in 1838.
238
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
Prominent Visitors .: John Penn visited Reading in 1788. He came to see for himself the town laid out by his brothers. He re- mained two days.
President Washington visited Reading in 1794. While here he stopped at the Federal Inn.
Lafayette's visit to America in 1824, caused the erection of triumphal arches and torch light processions in Reading, though Lafayette himself was never there. President Van Buren visited
239
THE CITY OF READING
ASKEW BRIDGE, NORTH SIXTH STREET.
Reading in 1839, enroute from Harrisburg to Easton. He was paid special honor because the year before he had selected Henry A. Muhl- enberg, a citizen of Reading, as minister to Austria. General Scott visited the town and the great "Military Encampment" in 1842.
Reading Today. Reading is fifty-eight miles from Philadel- phia, and Harrisburg, the Capital of the State, is fifty-four miles west. The city lies in a rather narrow valley which slopes from Mt. Penn toward the Schuylkill. Neversink Mountain rises to a height of eight hundred (800) feet and ends rather abruptly at the Schuylkill. Sur- rounding its base and ascending its slopes, like nestling chicks, are the homes and the factories which shelter and support its thrifty in- habitants. To the north the buildings skirt the foot of Mount Penn . and spread themselves, as if eager to include the rich fields which form one of the finest agricultural regions of the State. From the top of Neversink on one side may be seen the city with its roofs. its towering buildings and its spires ever pointing upward, and on the other, eight hundred square miles of rich, waving, rolling. farming country through which the winding Schuylkill draws a gleaming silvery line. Mount Penn. 1,110 feet high, skirts the northern portion and like a sleeping giant lazily stretches itself to the northeast. From
240
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
its summit the streets may be seen crossing at right angles, and the trolley cars, as it were, noiselessly groping their way through them.
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