timeline 1900s | My Site

Timeline

1900

1907- The Centennial Springs Hotel on Neversink Mountain was purchased by Monsignor George Bornemann, pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, and donated to the Berks County Tuberculosis Association for use as a Tuberculosis Sanitarium.

1908- The Rhoads Opera House Fire in Boyertown killed 171 people and spurred Pennsylvania to create better building standards.

1908- The Reading Pagoda was completed. Intended to be the centerpiece of a luxury resort, it was donated to Reading in 1911.

1920

1920- Women were able to vote for the first time because of the passage of the 19th Amendment. This year James E. Norton was elected the first Republican State Senator from Berks County. He had been the only Berks County State Representative to vote for women’s suffrage when it was proposed in 1919 in Harrisburg. He defeated Wilson G. Sarig who had voted against the suffrage question.

1922- Construction began on the Rajah Temple, the second structure owned by the Shriners that operated as a dual-purpose public theatre and temple in Reading and the third building to be known as the Rajah Temple opens. Now known as the Santander Performing Arts Center.

1923- Berks County’s own “Liberty Bell” donated to the Berks History Center by Dr. R.T. Ludy of Atlantic City, NJ during Reading’s 175th Anniversary celebration.

1924- The Reading Fairgrounds Speedway started hosting a variety of auto races until the closing of the Reading Fairgrounds in 1979. Fan-favorite local drivers included Red Coffin, Kenny Brightbill, Al Tasnady, Dick Tobias and Freddy Adams.

1926- Lake Ontelaunee owned by the City of Reading was created by the damming of Maiden Creek.

1928- The Astor Theater opened and 3000 people came to the first night of

this beautiful art deco theater.

1910

1910- First King Frost Parade first took place in Hamburg.

1913- The current Penn Street Bridge opened.

1913- Founded by Dr. Levi W. S. Mengel in 1907 for Reading School District students, the collection became the Reading Public Museum and opened to the public in 1913. It relocated to its current location in 1929.

1913- The Reading Symphony Orchestra was founded.

1914- Solomon Boscov opened the first Boscov's store at 9th and Pike

Streets in Reading.

1915- The Beneficial Society Victor Emmanuel II was founded by twenty-

one men of Italian heritage who joined together for the purpose of aiding members in need due to sickness or death, and to participate in the moral and social improvement of the Italian community in Reading.

1916- Death of Jacob Nolde, American conservationist, forester,

philanthropist, industrial leader. He was a German immigrant who

was largely responsible for the development of Nolde Forest.

1918- The 1918 influenza pandemic affected Berks County.

1930

1930- The Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute (WPI) was founded which later

merged with Penn State in 1958 and is now Penn State Berks.

1930- The Abraham Lincoln Hotel opened in Reading. In 1932 famous American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa died after

suffering from heart failure in his hotel room there.

1932- Radio station WEEU signed on the air in Reading.

1932- Pulitzer Prize winning and Berks County native author John Updike was born.

1932- The current, art-deco style Berks County Courthouse was completed.

1933- Pro Football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore was born in Reading.

1935- Roadside America, an indoor miniature village and railway covering

8,000 square feet was created by Laurence Gieringer.

1934- Hawk Mountain, the oldest and largest, member-support raptor

conservation organization in the world is founded by Rosalie Edge.

1935- The Socialist Party in Berks County won the Reading mayor’s office,

three council seats, the offices of city treasurer and controller, three seats on the school board, a seat on the board of county commissioners, and two county prison inspector-ships. However, except for J. Henry Stump’s election as Reading mayor in 1943, it was to be the party’s last victory at the polls.

1938- Hopewell Furnace was designated as a National Historic Site.

1939- Reading Municipal Airport field was dedicated.

1940

1945- The Reading Eagle ran a story on Berks County during World War II.

1946- DeLight Breidegam Jr. and Sr. started a battery business in a one-

room creamery in the village of Bowers that is now East Penn Manufacturing and the largest employer in Berks County.

1946- French Creek State Park was established.

1948- Richard Palmer Sr. started the R. M. Palmer Company and offered

Baby Binks, Bunny Binks, and Daddy Binks chocolates.

1960

1960- John F. Kennedy visited Reading during his campaign.

1962- Radio station WRFY-FM first signed on the air in Mt. Penn.

1963- The Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad opened for Business.

1964- The Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County was organized.

1965- The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles was established in 1965 by Paul and Erminie Hafer.

1966- The Conrad Weiser Homestead was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

1967- The Reading Fightin Phils Minor League Baseball team founded as the

Reading Phillies.

1969- Wes Fisher founded the Reading Pops Orchestra.

1950

1950- The first Kutztown Folk Festival held.

1951- The cornerstone ceremony for Berks Heim was held.

1952- Mary Archer, a lifelong activist for animal welfare founded the Animal Rescue League of Berks County.

1954- The Lincoln Homestead historical marker was dedicated.

1956- Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow, a U.S. government-backed film was shot in Reading showing how the city would implement civil defense procedures to help residents survive a nuclear attack.

1957- The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps started.

1958- Artist Keith Haring was born in Reading.

1958- Alvernia College founded by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters to

prepare women religious for the mission of Catholic education. It soon opened its doors to women laity and then to men in 1971. In 2008 it attained university status.