This article originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of the Historical Review of Berks County
To many inhabitants of Berks County, the practice of Pow-Wow, or faith-healing, is part of their daily living. These people who heal the sick are known by some as “Pow-Wow” doctors or “hex doctors.” These practitioners use religious charms to end the evil influences of witches who cast spells upon man and beast. Carleton F. […]
(With the research assistance of Gloria J. Meiser and Roy Bubhenmoyer)EDITOR’S NOTE: All the photographs illustrating this article are from Mr. Meiser’s extensive collection. The survey presented here began upon the receipt of a brochure (dated January 1, 1970) entitled LAND ACQUISITION PROCEDURE FOR BLUE MARSH DAM AND RESERVOIR, TULPEHOCKEN CREEK, PA. issued by the Philadelphia […]
Nestled against the slopes of South Mountain, a few miles due west of Reading, there are many imposing structures dotting the green of the forests and glades of the elevations that rim the Lebanon Valley. To the stranger who motors along Route 422 these buildings may resemble the ruins of medieval castles. Even now, and […]
As landmarks go, it is not the architecture that sets Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar apart – it’s the people. Jimmie set the tone and his heirs have marched in time with his zest for mixing business with pleasure. If the Pagoda is Reading’s No.1 most enduring tourist attraction, Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar certainly gets the […]
Introduction Saint John’s Lutheran Church celebrates its bicentennial in 2012 and this manuscript was written to commemorate this milestone anniversary. Although Saint John’s Lutheran church began in 1812, the earliest written records of the congregation are from 1896 when there was a dispute between the Lutheran church and the Reformed church in Sinking Spring. After […]
As motorists speed by the small village of Pricetown on Route 12, they are hardly aware of the 18th Century Dunkard, or Brethren, community that once thrived there. The few indications of early settlement, such as the surviving rustic barns and log houses built by the original pioneers, are frequently overlooked. Conrad Price, the person […]
The presence of German prisoners of war in Reading, Pennsylvania, during the Revolutionary War has been covered by various authors since Andrew Schaaber in 1910 (“The Hessian Camp at Reading, Pa., 1781-83,” The Pennsylvania German, Aug., 1910). Larry Wildemuth elaborated on the encampment in 1970 (“Hessians and the Citizens of Reading.” Historical Review of Berks […]
As the month of October dawned in Berks County in 1918, optimism was clearly in the air. It seemed obvious that the Great War in which the country had been engaged for the last year-and-a-half would soon be over. Headlines in the Reading Eagle for Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1918, proclaimed: “The Allies Still Successfully Smashing Foe… Americans […]
The Appalachian Trail is not, as many people believe, an old Indian footpath. Indians made trails that “kept their level,” twisting through water gaps and wind gaps to avoid too much climbing. They were made easy to traverse the easiest way to get from one spot to another. Not so for the Appalachian Trail. It […]