USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > The story of Berks County (Pennsylvania) > Part 7
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Other early roads. The Lancaster road was laid out in 1762. It extends from Reading by way of Mohnton to Lancaster.
The Bern road was laid out in 1772, and extends from Reading through Bern Township.
The Alsace road was laid out in 1776. It started at a point on the Oley road in what is now Mt. Penn and extended through Alsace Township, and is now known as the Friedensburg road.
The early turnpikes were well constructed. A bed of stone was placed upon the road and upon this finer stone or gravel. When crushed by travel this became a solid road-bed. To cover the-ex- pense of maintaining the pike's and to earn dividends for the stock- holders, pike companies were allowed the privilege of collecting toll from parties who used the road.
State highways. To encourage the building of good roads it has been the practice of the state for some years to assist the town- ships and to require the counties to do the same. When the State Highway law was enacted in 1905, the cost of building improved roads was divided as follows: The state 75%, the county 123% and the township 121%.
The following districts in Berks County have taken advantage of this law: Cumru, Washington, Amity, Tilden and Hereford. In
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
"all about sixteen miles of these state-aid roads have been built in the county.
In 1911 the state enacted a law assuming full charge of 8,000 miles of road in the commonwealth. This includes the following roads in Berks:
The road across northern Berks, entering on the western line of Bethel Township and leaving the county on the eastern line of Albany ; the Centre Turnpike, Reading to Port Clinton; Harrisburg Turnpike, Reading to Wernersville; the Lancaster road, Reading to Adamstown; East- on road, Reading to Breinigsville; Fried- ensburg road, Read -; . ing to Boyertown; road leading fr om Pottstown to Allen- town, passing through Southern Berks ; OLD STAGE COACH. Perkioman Turn - pike, Reading to Pottstown ; Morgantown road, Reading to Morgan- town; Schuylkill road, Reading to Pottstown; and the road in the southern end of the county, leading from Birdsboro to Joanna.
Stages and stage lines. Martin Hausman, in 1789, drove the first stage coach between Philadelphia and Reading for carrying let- ters and passengers. He made weekly trips which required two days and charged two dollars for a passenger and three pence for a letter.
The line from Philadelphia was soon extended to' Hamburg, Orwigsburg and Sunbury. In 1818 two trips from Hamburg to Sun- bury were made every week. The stage left Philadelphia Tuesdays. and Saturdays at 3 A. M., and reached Reading at five, and remained at Hamburg over night. It left Hamburg at 3 A. M. the following morning and arrived at Sunbury at 10 P. M. upon the succeeding day.
A line to Womelsdorf and Allentown was started about the same time and another to Allentown and Easton.
It must not be assumed that the same team of horses was used to make these long trips, for relay stations were established so that each team worked about half a day.
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That the stage coach business was important is shown by the fact that one of the managers of the line owned one thousand horses. Elliptical steel springs did not come into general use until 1855, so that the stages usually rode like log-wagons and in many cases they left their starting points as early as 2 A. M.
The stage coach business prospered until the introduction of railroads, when it rapidly declined. The line to Philadelphia was discontinued in 1838; Pottsville, 1842; Harrisburg, 1858; and Allen- town, 1859. Stages which carried mail and merchandise to the remote parts of the county continued until the advent of the trolley roads, when these, too, were gradually abandoned and now but few of them remain.
The business caused by these stages was considerable. Drivers, inn-keepers, coach-makers, smiths, and toll-keepers were busy people. With the stage there usually arrived not only strangers, but friends, newspapers, letters and parcels for delivery. The stage coach is practically a thing of the past and in its place we have trains, trolleys, parcels' delivery and best of all rural free delivery : of mails. The blessings and advantages of trolley cars, bicycles and automobiles we appreciate fully only when we remember how our grandparents lived a century ago.
RAILROADS.
Philadelphia & Reading. The first railroad built in America is now called the Switchback Railroad. It was about nine miles
AN EARLY RAILROAD TRAIN.
long and was built to haul coal from Summit Hill to the Lehigh Riv- er. Canals were not in operation very long until wise men saw that it would be cheaper and better to carry coal upon wheels. The first move with this end in view was made in 1833, when the Little Schuylkill Railroad Company was chartered to build a railroad from
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
Port Clinton to Reading. This company had another charter for a railroad between Port Clinton and Tamaqua.
In the same year a charter was granted to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company to build a road from Reading to Phila- delphia. A large portion of it was completed during 1835, and in 1837 one track was completed from Reading to Pottstown. A train left the depot at Reading at 9 A. M. and arrived at Pottstown in 234 hours.
It was soon learned that the Little Schuylkill Railroad Com- pany was unable to construct a road from Port Clinton to Reading. Its charter was therefore yielded to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, which was authorized to construct a railroad to Pottsville. The first train ran over the entire line from Phila- delphia to Pottsville on the first day of January in 1842. The entire distance is ninety-four miles. In building this line it was necessary to construct two long tunnels; one near Phoenixville, 930 feet in length, and another near Port Clinton, sixteen hundred and six feet in length. Both of these enterprises were considered great engineering feats and cost thousands of dollars. A second track from Philadelphia to Pottsville was completed in 1844.
It was the building and the operating of this road that made it possible for Reading to grow, and enabled the farmers to ship their produce to the cities, thus making Berks County one of the great agricultural districts of Pennsylvania.
Lebanon Valley. The Lebanon Valley Railroad Company was incorporated by an act of Assembly passed on April 1, 1836. It was given the privilege of building a railroad from Reading to Harrisburg. It was so worded that it was necessary to secure a subscription of four thousand shares before the charter could be used. This amount of subscription could not be secured and so the matter of building the railroad was held up for seventeen years. Finally some one thought of the idea of having the city of Reading and the city of Lebanon subscribe for some of the required shares of stock. This idea caused a great difference of opinion. The Read- ing Adler was opposed to such subscription while the Journal and the Press favored it. On the 5th of April, 1853, an act was passed giving these cities the power of so doing and the matter was finally
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left to an election which terminated in favor of having the cities buy the stock. The Supreme Court at Pittsburgh delivered an opin- ion that the subscription could legally be made and the City Coun- cils accordingly issued city bonds to pay for the stock.
The Lebanon Valley Railroad Company, in 1857, was consoli- dated with the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. After the consolidation was made the road was completed and the city bonds were returned in exchange for stock.
On Monday, January 18, 1858, trains were run from Reading to Harrisburg, but trains had been run to Lebanon in 1857. The first train covering the entire route consisted of ten passenger cars and carried a number of prominent citizens. While the road was being built there was quite a little trouble because a num- . ber of workmen struck for higher wages and refused to allow other laborers to work in their stead. It is said that they injured their foreman and set fire to a portion of the road in the vicinity of Womelsdorf where the trouble occurred. They were finally ar- rested and taken to Reading. The length of this railroad is fifty- four miles.
East Penn. The Reading & Lehigh Railroad Company was incorporated by an act of Assembly passed on the 9th of March, 1856. It was to construct a railroad from Allentown to a junction on the Philadelphia & Reading and Lebanon Valley Railroads at Reading. The building of the road began in 1857 and it was com- pleted in two years. A celebration was held at Temple at the time when the last spike was driven. It was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company in 1861 for 999 years.
Reading & Columbia. While the agitation was going on which resulted in building a railroad extending from Harrisburg to Allentown a plan to connect Reading with Columbia, on the Susquehanna, was also discussed. The Reading & Columbia Rail- road Company was incorporated on May 19, 1857. It extends from Sinking Spring to Columbia, a distance of forty miles. It was completed in 1864.
Wilmington & Northern. On April 20, 1864, an act of Assem- bly was passed authorizing a number of commissioners to build a road from some point on the Philadelphia & Reading to any
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
place in Chester County. The company was called the Berks and Chester Railroad Company. In 1866 authority was given to con- nect a road with the Delaware and Pennsylvania State Line Rail- road. After the combination had been made it was called the Wil- mington and Northern Railroad Company. It was open for travel from Wilmington to Coatesville in 1869; to Birdsboro in 1870; and to Reading in 1874. For a time the road had an independent pas- senger station in Reading. . In 1882 arrangement was made by which the trains were run into the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- road station. The latter company now controls it.
Colebrookdale. The Colebrookdale Railroad Company was incorporated by an act of assembly passed in March, 1865. It re- ceived authority to construct a railroad from Pottstown to Boyer- town. This road was finally completed and opened for traffic in November, 1869. It was later extended to Barto. On January 1, 1870, the Colebrookdale Railroad was leased to the Philadelphia and Reading.
Schuylkill & Lehigh. The Berks County Railroad Company was incorporated by the Legislature in March, 1871. A number of commissioners were appointed who were authorized to construct a railroad from a point near Birdsboro through the city of Read- ing, and to connect with any railroad which was then constructed in Lehigh County.
The railroad was finally completed and began its traffic in July, 1874. It extends from Reading to Slatington. It was mortgaged and sold to another company, who went under the name of the Schuylkill and Lehigh Railroad Company. It is now operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company under a lease. The road is about forty miles long.
Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley. The Phoenixville, Pottstown and Reading Railroad Company and the Philadelphia, Norristown and Phoenixville Railroad Company were united into one com- pany in 1883, under the name of the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Val- ley Railroad Company. Not long afterward the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company leased it and constructed a railroad from Philadel- phia to Reading. This road was opened for traffic to the people
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INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
of Reading on November 15, 1884. This road has its Reading sta- tion at the foot of Penn street, and in order to permit its construc- tion at this point, the old wooden Penn Street bridge was' removed and a costly iron one erected in its stead, which has since been re- placed by a modern re-inforced concrete viaduct.
Not long afterward another company was incorporated and went by the name of the Reading and Pottsville Railroad Com- pany. This corporation constructed a railroad from Reading to Pottsville, which continued the railroad from Philadelphia. . It was opened for traffic on Dec. 7, 1885. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company leased this line in 1885.
Allentown. In January, 1870, a railroad was projected by the Allentown Railroad Company, which extended from Allentown to Port Clinton. This railroad was never finished, but it was built" from Topton to Kutztown. It was also leased by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.
HORSE CAR.
Other railroads. Authority was granted to the manufacturers of Reading to build a railroad from the Lebanon Valley Railroad to a point near the Reading Gas Works. This railroad was nec- essary in order to carry their goods to and from the shops.
The road was at last completed and began to carry on its traffic in the year 1863. It is nearly two miles in length. Its oper-
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
ation went on for about ten years under this company, when it was afterward operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Con- pany, who used it for receiving and delivering freight.
In 1902 the belt line was opened, from a point on the main line of the P. &. R. Railroad, several miles above Reading, to a point on the same line two miles below Reading. It was built to relieve the great congestion through Reading. There is also a railroad from Trexlertown to the ore mines near Kline's Corner, in Longswamp, and another from Alburtis to Rittenhouse Gap, also in Longswamp, with a branch to Seisholtzville, Hereford Township, where good building granite is quarried.
Projected railroads that have not been completed are the Al- lentown, from Kutztown to Port Clinton, the South Mountain from Hamburg to Jonestown, with a branch from Reading to Strauss- town. A railroad is now being built from the ore mines in Earl Township to Stowe.
Trolley roads. Reading had a street railway as early as 1874. The cars were drawn by horses. It was not until 1888 that the first electric railroad was built in the county. It extends from Reading to the Black Bear Inn. When the first car moved along without horses it was quite a curiosity, and many people came from a distance to see this new method of propulsion. Many were so anxious to take a ride that they crawled into the car through the windows. The Stony Creek line was built in 1890. It extends from Mt. Penn to Stony Creek Mills. In 1892 electricity was introduced as a motive power on the Reading Street Railways. " In 1902 the Boyertown road was built. It extends from Carsonia Park to Boyertown. In 1908 a road was opened from Boyertown to Potts- ยท town. In 1904 a road was built from Black Bear to Birdsboro.
The Mohnton line was put into service in 1890. In 1894 it was extended to Adamstown, where connections are made for Lan- caster.
The Womelsdorf road was opened in 1894, extending from Reading to Womelsdorf. It is intended to build a line from Womels- dorf to Myerstown, and thus connect with the lines to Lebanon and Harrisburg.
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INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
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In 1902 the Temple road was opened, and in 1904 a line was extended to Kutztown where it connected with the Allentown road, built in 1898.
It is intended to build a line from Temple to Hamburg and one from Lyons to Macungie. These trolley lines have stimulated build- ing operation in suburban towns to a remarkable degree, and gave the sections through which they run a splendid service in handling passengers, freight and mail.
SCENIC RAILROADS.
In 1899, the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad was built. It is in- tended altogether for pleasure and sight seeing. At first the cars were drawn to the summit of the mountain by locomotives, but for a number of years electricity has been used for this purpose. From the summit the cars descend by gravity over a road that winds through the hills and brings the cars back to the starting point. The road covers a distance of nine miles.
The Neversink Mountain Railroad was built in 1889. It extends from 9th and Penn Streets, Reading to Klapperthal, a distance of eleven miles. The motive power is electricity.
These roads afford magnificent scenery and are traversed an- nually by thousands of visitors.
CHAPTER VIII.
EDUCATION.
Among the 11,294 German Protestants who came to America in 1709, there were eighteen school-masters. In the early days of the county the schools were under the direction of the church. The teachers often were sub-preachers and in addition to their school duties they had catechetical classes, read sermons, baptized children, and wrote out baptismal certificates.
Parochial schools. In those early days there were the paro- chial schools which were conducted under the direction of the church. They were always under the direct control of the pastors
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OLD PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, KUTZTOWN, PA.
and managers of the church. The children of the poor were taught gratis, and the teachers as a rule were good. These schools were usually held in the church building or in a school house on the
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EDUCATION
same premises. George Steifel was teacher in the school connected with the Reformed Church at Tulpehocken as early as 1731. The Lutheran Church in the same place employed Casper Luthecker, a tailor, to teach school, read sermons, and catechise children prior to 1735. The Longswamp congregations employed Frederick Holl- wig as teacher and cantor as early as 1753, and at Oley a parochial school was being conducted before 1748. The Lutheran Church in Richmond Township secured one hundred acres of land for a parsonage and a school house. A school house has stood close to the church for a longer time than anyone can remem- ber. The following is taken from the records of this congregation: "That it is' our most earnest desire that the teacher, as well as the preacher, shall be fairly compensated, so that he can live with his family like an honest man, without being obliged to engage in any business foreign to. his profession. To this end, the teacher and the preacher shall have the land and the house upon it free, as long as they officially serve the congregation, and, as far as it is reasonable, they may use the same as serves them best."
Quaker schools. The Friends had three such parochial schools; one in Maidencreek, another in Robeson and another in Exeter. The one in Exeter was begun about 1790 and continued until 1860, when the school property was sold to the township. At this school, however, a "Subscription" was paid and it was attended by others as well as Friends. In 1738, there were seventy families of Friends living in Maidencreek Township. From the records of 1784 we learn that: "At Maidencreek a school is kept by Thomas Pearson, a Friend, who is at present engaged for a year; has , fifteen scholars entered for that time, and eight quarterly, at the rate of forty shillings each." The school was under the direction of overseers, chosen by employers. .
This school was held in an old log school house, which was replaced by a stone building in 1807. This structure is still stand- ing. During the carly part of the last century this was the only school house in that section of the county.
A Committee on education was appointed by the church or meeting, as it was called, and this committee engaged the teachers, visited the school, and had charge of the building. Here teachers
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
were paid by those who sent pupils and in cases of those who were too poor the expenses were paid by the committee if the parents were members of the meeting. Many of its pupils later came from quite a distance though it never was a regular boarding school. Persons from Reading who wished to prepare themselves for sur- veying are reported to have attended this school. The school was continued until 1871 and in the days of its greatest usefulness it spread the desire for learning for which the locality has ever been noted.
Catholic schools. Father Schneider became rector of the "Mission of Goshenhoppen" in Washington Township in 1741, and in a small room of his dwelling house he taught school 'as early as 1743. His dwelling had two stories, one room on each floor. It is still standing, and is the oldest school house in the county. It is used as part of the present rector's dining room. The school is said to have been kept open, without interruption, to the time of the free schools, and, what is strangest of all, it is kept open from year to year at the present time, to all intents and purposes a parochial school, yet within the range of the common school law.
Moravian schools. The Moravians erected a building for school purposes in Oley as early as 1742. This building was framed forty-one feet square and three stories high. The first story was divided into four rooms with large open fire places. The second was divided into two halls, one for public worship and the other for school purposes. A new building was erected about 1776. This is still standing.
Pay schools. These schools were managed by private indi- viduals. All who attended them had to pay. As a general thing the teachers were not as good as in the parochial schools, and as no rec- ords were kept but little that is definite can be said of these schools. They existed in every community. About 1765 Baron Stiegel became school-master of such a pay school at Womelsdorf. He came to America before 1750 and engaged in the iron business. He lived in a castle, like a German baron, until he was imprisoned for debts. He served but a short time as teacher when he disappeared. About twenty years later an old white-haired hermit, looking like Rip Van Winkle, was found on the mountain about nine miles southeast of
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EDUCATION
Womelsdorf, in his dying moments. Many of the early teachers were probably employed on the theory that he who can do nothing else can at least teach school. Father Christ, the great-grandfather of Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, built a house and set it apart for a school house on the old Christ home- stead about two and one-half miles northwest of Kutztown. Until Greenwich Township accepted Free Schools this house was used for school purposes. Peter Wanner, kept such a pay school, in his own dwelling in Maidencreek Township, for many years.
Charity schools. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg and Michael Schlatter were the leaders in the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, in America in colonial times. Muhlenberg visited Tulpehocken in 1743, and from that time on he directed the activities not only of the Lutheran churches, but of the schools connected with them as well. Schlatter's great desire was to see a school house connected with every church. In order to raise the money to accomplish this he went to Europe to secure funds to pay ministers and teachers. He re- turned the following year with men and money to instruct the poor Germans. Through his efforts a society was formed in England for the education of the Germans of Pennsylvania and to its funds the English king gave 1,000 pounds, and many of the nobles of England gave freely. The children of the English and Germans were to be instructed in catechisms approved by their parents and catechisms were to be printed in both languages.
Six trustees were appointed to manage the fund and among them - was Conrad Weiser, the father-in-law of Muhlenberg, and Schlatter was the general superintendent. There were two of these charity schools established in Berks County. One was at Reading and the other at Tulpehocken.
Free schools. The Pennsylvania Germans always favored educa- tion, but they did oppose free schools. They did so not because free schools were to increase the educational advantages but because they were to separate education from religion and take from the church and the clergy educational duties that they had exercised in some instances for a century. They felt sure that the success of the free schools meant the death of the church, and could not or would not
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THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
see how the state could support education without separating it from religious influences of all kinds. Many of the people valued free education as they valued free speech and free religion, and yet thoroughly distrusted state control. The Germans were also especial- ly fearful lest state control would permanently establish the English language and exclude the German.
While many Germans opposed these free schools, yet many of the most influential Germans favored them. The first governor that ever took a decided stand in their favor was a Pennsylvania German. Governor John Andrew Shultz, of Tulpehocken Township, favored free schools as early as 1827. The following sentence is taken from one of his messages to the state legislature: "What nobler incentive can present itself to the mind of a republican legislator, than a hope that his labors shall be rewarded by insuring to his country a race of human beings, healthy, and of vigorous constitution, and of minds more generally improved than fall to the lot of any considerable portion of the human family?"
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