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Authored by Society president George Meiser IX |
| Posted 09-15-2003
TEN News-Bits of Reading-Berks historical interest…. ============ =========== ============= ============ =========== ============= 1- Projected 3-D program - Sat., Sept. 20 at 10 and 11 a.m. 2- Arts & Antiques Fair at Centre Park this Sun., Sept. 21st - 10 am 3- "Historical Review" for Fall dispatched to members; great cover! 4- "Preserving Your Family's History" - Sat., Oct. 4 - 9:30 -- 11:30 5- Conservancy Tour of Historic Oley Valley on Sat., Oct. 4 - 11-5 6- Sat., Oct. 11th at 1 at Society: Gingerbread Lady program 7- Links to virtually all the historical societies in PA! 8- Wanted for Nov. exhibit: Belsnickels and old Santas 9- Reminder: Ringgold Band dinner-concert ticket-deadline Oct 11 10- Book Bonanza collection Sat., Oct. 11th at Reading Airport ============= ============ ============= ============= ============ ============= ============= ============ ============= 1- This coming Saturday morning, Sept. 20th, at 10 and 11, there will be identical showings of projected ViewMaster 3-D stereo views, some generally spectacular ones and some of Reading and Berks taken years ago. Be prepared to be amazed. Society members and News-Bits readers are invited. It's free. ============= ============== =============== 2- Centre Park Historic District's annual Arts & Antiques Fair, postponed from last Sunday, has been rescheduled for THIS Sunday, Sept. 21st. Operating times are 10 to 5. We hope the rains will be over by that time. =============== ============ ============ 3- The "Historical Review of Berks County," Fall issue, has been sent to all Society members as a benefit of membership. The cover, with an 1890 Chris Shearer painting of Stoudt's Ferry Bridge, is a real prize winner.  If you're into old-time Reading-Berks photos and you're not a Society member and do not receive the magazine, you're missing a treasure-house of visual delights. The current issue has 47 photographs. Articles in the Fall "Review": The 1748 Hoch-High Farm at Poplar Neck----High's Woods and the Schuylkill Canal---- Unusual Bridges of Berks----Peacock's Lock Railroad Viaduct---- Rickenbach's Navy Yard at the Schuylkill----Life of a Canal Boat Captain----Peacock's Locks and Old-time Reading----Krick Family of Reading----Stoudt's Ferry Covered Bridge----Chris Shearer, artist & teacher----Altrusa Club's 60th Anniversary, etc. Membership in the Society, which includes the quarterly "Review," is only $30 a year. (Checks to Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601) ============= ============= ============== Library Program: "Preserving Your Family's History," presented by Heather Tennies, archivist at Lancaster County Historical Society. SATURDAY, Oct. 4th - 9:30 to 11:30. Fee: $7. Pre-registration is required as the group will be limited to 20. Call 610 - 375 - 4375 and ask for Barbara. The program will cover organizing and properly preserving documents, such as letters, deeds, and clippings. There will be examples of storage options and supplies as well as a prepared list of vendors and conservators. Participants are asked to bring a sample or two from their collections for discussion. Note: This particular seminar will not include photos or textiles. ============= =============== ============= 5- Three Centuries in Berks Historic Property Tour, sponsored by the Berks County Conservancy----Saturday, October 4, 2003. Tour from 11 to 5. The 22nd annual tour explores architectural treasures of Oley, Ruscombmanor, Rockland, District, and Pike Townships. Eleven sites will be open including the Lobachsville Gristmill, the Keim Homestead, vernacular farmhouses, a former tavern/inn, a rebuilt log cabin, a church and a Brethren (German Baptist) meetinghouse, a Colonial German manor house, and an English Country house. Below: The German Baptist Meeting-House at Pricetown, today cared for by a Brethren congregation. Elem Fox, the elder, was the last old-time member of this congregation. The cemetery in the rear is "buried full"; some stones were removed, and others are buried. When you visit the site, check the home, with balcony, across the road. Here was the residence of Martin Gauby, the first preacher at the meeting-house. He lies buried in the cemetery.  To the extreme left in the photo, partly seen, is Pricetown schoolhouse # 1, closed around 1917. It's been used for storage for many years. Ticket prices: $17.50 each; $15.00 for Berks County Conservancy Members. Tickets are available now at the Berks County Conservancy, 25 N. 11th Street, Reading 610-372-4992; Green Valley Nursery & Florist, Sinking Spring; and Pikeville Antiques, 284 Mine Road, Oley. Tickets may be purchased the day of the tour at St. John's UCC of Pricetown, 3713 Pricetown Road (Site #2), and Pikeville Antiques, 284 Mine Road, Oley, (Site #10). Below: a very old view of St. John's, Pricetown. DO walk the cemetery as the tombstone art found here is among the most interesting in the county.  Below: the Pikeville general store building as photographed by GMM IX about 40 years ago. Today, this is an antique store. The Pikeville Post Office, located in this building, operated from 1872 to 1906. V. Landis was the last postmaster here.  The limestone soil and protected valley-setting attracted settlers to the region from Germany, Switzerland and England during the early years of the eighteenth century. Johannes Keim was the Oley Valley's first settler. Keim came from Germany in 1706 and chose his home-site in the wilderness near present-day Pikeville. He built a log cabin, and later a stone house and barn and went about clearing his land and growing crops to provide for his family. Although these early structures are no longer extant, the later farmhouse and barn date from the 1790s. Keim's son, Jacob, chose a tract near Lobachsville to build a large center-chimney house in 1752 along with a 1 ½ - story stone cider mill. These buildings were occupied with minimum change by succeeding generations of the Keim family until Betsy Keim's death in 1911. This splendid property is preserved by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County. The gristmill and cider mill are open for the tour (Site #8). Below is the oldest photo you'll ever see of the rear of the Keim home, along Boyer Road, near Lobachsville. It was taken about 125 years ago.  The Oley Valley became a prosperous place due to its flourishing agricultural economy. The soils and climate were ideally suited for the growing of wheat. This was the breadbasket of the Colonies...feeding the bustling city of Philadelphia. To meet the demand for flour, gristmills were built along the swift-flowing streams as was the 1745 Pott mill-site (Site #9) at Lobachsville. Other water-powered industries grew up near the mill-seats, taking advantage of the power source. Soon the village of Lobachsville included the gristmill, sawmill, fulling mill, and chair factory--in addition to a general store, post office, ice house, hotel, and schoolhouse. Below is the Lobachsville schoolhouse, closed December 1962.  The architecture featured during the tour is primarily Colonial German in style. Most sites, or portions thereof, pre-date the 1860's. The forested land in Pike and District Townships, in "the Oley Hills," is one of the largest undisturbed forested areas in Berks County. Many roadways remain "unimproved" (dirt!). Though timbered to feed the early iron foundries in the area, it regained its status as home to several pristine creeks that have received state-wide recognition as 'Exceptional Value', the highest water quality designation awarded in Pennsylvania. We attribute this pristine water quality to the fact that this land is undeveloped, and it is a goal of the Berks County Conservancy to maintain this status by permanently protecting the land with conservation easements. In partnership with the Pine Creek Valley Watershed Association, the Pike Oley District Preservation Coalition, the Highlands Coalition, and the Forest Legacy Program, we hope to permanently protect over 1100 acres in this particular area over the next TWO years. This will not only provide future generations with the benefit of this undisturbed natural area, it will also ensure pristine conditions for these unique, high- quality streams. As you drive through the Oley Hills, we know you will appreciate this unique area as much as we do. A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS from this tour will be used to protect this land with conservation easements. Need more information? Call the Berks County Conservancy at 610 - 372 - 4992. ============== ============== ============ 6- On SATURDAY, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. at the Historical Society, the famous Gingerbread Lady will appear to give an overview of Gingerbread-House-making, show a short video made by her, and answer questions relevant to construction all sorts of Gingerbread houses. Her video tape and book are both now available in the Society's museum shop. Recipes and how-to- do ideas are included. She's really good at what she does! Best of all, this program is FREE! And don't forget our Gingerbread House Contest coming up! ============== ============= ============== 7- Often our Society receives phone calls and emails asking about other historical society's in the state and how they may be reached. The web-site that follows will provide this information and, in many cases, will show you their home pages. http://www.luzernecountyhistory.com/Internet%20Links4.htm ============= ============== ============== 8- Calling all Belsnickels! We are planning a special exhibit of Belsnickels and Santas for December. If you have any, esp. old-time ones, we would like to have you participate by lending your goodies for this exhibition which will open Sat., Nov. 22nd and run through Jan. 4, 2004. ALL dolls and related materials will be exhibited in locked cases and insured. If you can help us, call Mr. Yoder at the Society at 610 - 375 - 4375. =============== ============== ============== 9- Reminder about the Ringgold Band's annual dinner-concert at Stokesay on Sunday, October 19th at 6 p.m. For particulars, prices, program notes, and deadline-date, access: http://www.ringgoldband.com or phone 610 - 929 - 8525 ============== ============= =============== 10- County-wide used book collection for Book Bonanza 2004 will be held on Saturday, October 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Reading Regional Airport. Watch for signs along Route 183 (the Bernville Road) telling you where to pull in. Adult and children's hardback or paperback books in good condition are needed. The Book Bonanza provides funds for scholarships for women and the Berks Libraries' Summer Reading Program for Kids. Sponsoring organizations: Berks County Public Library System, Friends of Berks County Public Libraries, and the Reading Branch of the American Association of University Women. For more information, call 610 - 779 - 7297. =============== ============= ============== =============== gmmix ====== end ======= |
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