A Walking Tour of Reading, Pennsylvania
In 1733, the site of present day Reading was chosen. It was set at the intersection of two great valleys,
the east Penn-Lebanon Valley and the Schuylkill river. This site was known as Finney’s Ford until 1743
when Thomas Lawrence, a Penn Land agent, made the first attempt at the layout for Reading.
In 1748, the town was laid out by Thomas and Richard Penn, the sons of William Penn. The name was
chosen after Penn’s own county seat, Reading, in Berkshire, England. In 1752, Reading became the
county seat of Berks county.
During the French and Indian war, Reading became a military base for a chain of forts along the Blue
Mountains. The local iron industry, by the time of the Revolution had a total production that exceeded
that of England, a production that would help supply Washington’s troops with weapons including
cannons, rifles and ammunition. During the early period of the war, Reading was again a depot for
military supply. Hessian prisoners from the battle of Trenton were also detained here.
The center of Reading was known as market square, with open sheds where farmers would sell their
produce and hold a yearly fair. Later the square became the center of government and commerce with
the County Courthouse, banks, stores and hotels located on the site. The construction of the Reading
Railroad, its lines radiating in all directions from the City, was probably the greatest single factor in the
development of Berks County. Established in 1833 to transport coal, its operations grew to include
coal mining, iron making, canal and sea-going transportation and shipbuilding. By 1870 it was the
largest corporation in the world.
Reading did not officially incorporate as a city until the 1840s, when its population had grown to
12,000 people living in rows of red brick houses. In the fifty years following the Civil War, Reading
continued to grow as an industrial city, supporting one of the most diverse manufacturing bases of any
city in the country. Bicycles, wagons, hats, cigars, clocks, shoes, brass, bricks, steam engines, rope, beer
and pretzels, and many other items were all manufactured in the city or the surrounding area. In 1900
Charles Duryea came to Reading to make one of the earliest automobiles. Duryea Drive on Mt. Penn
still carries his name and is the site of an annual car race up to the top of the mountain.
This walking tour will begin in City Park, or Penn’s Common, just east of city center...
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