Reading
Posted by: 
Gosffo
N 40° 20.083 W 075° 56.444
18T E 420092 N 4465333
It was a ghost town for a while!
Waymark Code: WM1958
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 03/01/2007
Views: 45
Marker Text:
Laid out 1748 by direction of Thomas Penn. Seat of Berks County since 1752. Incorporated borough, 1783. Soon became, and has remained, center of the Pennsylvania-Dutch area. An old and progressive industrial community.
We need a new county! But you can't have one without a town! The new county needed a town! So they decided on contriving a town near Widow Finney's log cabin. There were no roads, mills or crossroads. There was an old Indian trail where they forded the Schuykill river, but that was it. The new town was surveyed and laid out and lots sold, but nobody built anything. (see it was a ghost town) Finally, Conrad Wieser built a log cabin and started a trading post. It was called "Weiser Wigwam". Three of the first 7 buildings in Readingtown were owned by Weiser. Once they had a town they got a county.
Marker Name: Reading
County: Berks
Date Dedicated: 01/01/1948
Marker Type: Roadside
Location: U.S. 422 W
Category: Cities & Towns
Website: [Web Link]
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