Bopping around Berks? If you live and work in Berks or just come here for fun, food and good times, try taking this quiz to see how much you really know about locations within the County. After all, an old inn is just another building — until the owner tells you about the ghost living upstairs, that is.
Landscapes and landmarks lodge in your mind when you know the deeper story — the history and meaning — linked to specific sites. Write down your answers as you go and then go to the scoring box to see how Berks-smart you really are.
1. The historical marker for the very first Boscov’s department store is posted at:
A. 5th and Penn in Reading
B. 9th and Pike in Reading
C. Boscov’s North on 5th Street, Fairgrounds
2. The most sacred tree in all of Berks County is:
A. a walnut
B. a maple
C. an oak
3. What treasured item is housed inside The Pagoda of Reading?
A. a relic of Saint Jude
B. a bell cast in 1739
C. Pennsylvania’s 17th C charter
4. You can tour an actual underground railroad at:
A. the Old Bethel A.M.E. Church, Reading
B. the Conrad Weiser Homestead, Womelsdorf
C. Reeser Farmhouse, near Gring’s Mill
5. The highest spot in Berks County is:
A. The Pinnacle
B. The Fredericksville Hotel
C. The High Point in Bethel Township off Rte. 183
6. Band leader and march composer John Philip Sousa passed away:
A. at the Ringgold Band Concert Hall
B. in Reading Hospital in a room near the clock tower
C. at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Reading
7. An unassuming white house at 117 Philadelphia Avenue in Shillington has provided national prize-winning artistic inspiration for:
A. Taylor Swift
B. John Updike
C. Michael Constantine
8. The best place to dine while enjoying Pennsylvania Dutch art by master folk artists is:
A. The Bowers Hotel, Bowers
B. The Reading Liederkranz, Mount Penn
C. Deitsch Eck Restaurant, Lenhartsville
9. The Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom temple, located in Wyomissing and celebrating 150 years of worship, had its first building:
A. where the Olivet Boys & Girls Club stands in Reading
B. in New Jerusalem (Rockland Township)
C. on the Penn State University-Berks campus in Wyomissing
10. Keith Haring’s drawings are found on the floor in the:
A. Kutztown Tavern on Main Street, Kutztown
B. Reading Public Museum
C. New Arts Program Art Gallery in Kutztown
11. Anyone who wants to learn to speak and read English can find classes through the Literacy Council of Reading-Berks’ headquarters, located in:
A. West Reading
B. West Lawn
C. Sinking Spring
12. Famed painter Ben Austrian of Reading — who had studios in Mount Penn, Paris, and Florida — is buried in:
A. Kempton
B. Gouglersville
C. downtown Reading
13. NFL quarterback Chad Henne, Olympic silver medalist swimmer Kristy Kowal and Olympic speed skater Allison Baver all attended:
A. Reading Senior High School — the “castle on the hill”
B. Wilson High School
C. Wyomissing Area High School
14. The Frederick Lauer Monument in City Park, Reading, is a tribute related to:
A. the beer-brewing industry
B. Berks Jazz Fest
C. construction of the Berks County Courthouse
15. The Andre Reed Stadium, named for a famed football alumnus, is:
A. at Albright College
B. at Kutztown University
C. at Alvernia University
16. The living-history Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro, Oley Valley, is named after the great outdoorsman and trailblazer because he:
A. first wore raccoon hats there as a boy
B. was born and spent 15 formative years there
C. died there and was laid to rest nearby
How'd you do? Answers on next page.
1. B | Boscov’s, one of the nation’s largest family-owned department store chains, first opened here; a fire demolished the location in 1967.
2. C | The famed sacred oak of Oley has long been revered by the Lenni Lenape for its healing powers. More than 400 years old, it’s regarded as the largest yellow oak (Chinkapin oak) in the U.S.
3. B | High inside the big red Pagoda is a temple bell made in Obata, Japan, in 1739. It was brought to Reading in 1907.
4. A | The Central Pennsylvania African American Museum guides visitors to the Underground Railroad site at the Bethel A.M.E. Church, 119 N. 10th St. in Reading, built in 1837. Its members provided safe passage to fugitive slaves. See www.cpaam.net.
5. C | Hikers have long enjoyed climbing up to The Pinnacle, but actually the High Point in Bethel Township is higher at 1690 feet, located off the Appalachian Trail near Route 183.
6. C | Sousa was in town to lead the Ringgold Band in its 80th anniversary concert when, on March 6, 1932, he passed away in his room at the Abe Lincoln Hotel, at 5th and Washington streets, Reading. On his last day alive, he rehearsed the band and later attended a dinner in his honor at the hotel, with about 100 notable Berks Countians.
7. B | The dogwood tree that John Updike referenced still stands at his childhood home in Shillington, which is being carefully restored as a museum-in-progress. The Pulitzer-prize-winning, prolific author spent the first 13 years of his life here.
8. C | Deitsch Eck Restaurant features not just authentic Pennsy Dutch food but also original folk art — thanks to earlier owners and hex-sign artists Johnny Ott and (later) Donald Greth. Today it’s owned by chef Steve Stetzler.
9. A | The vibrant Jewish congregation of Oheb Sholom has just unveiled an installation commemorating its long history. The very first building that it constructed is the home of today’s Olivet Boys and Girls Club.
10. C | According to the New Arts Program: “Keith just wanted the space to look like his Pop Shop in NY when he had an exhibition here. He even watered down the paint and said it would not last long. But it did and we have put a clear coating on it since then. Keith was very generous and really thought nothing of putting his signature drawings on items for people, even for kids.”
11. B | ESL classes and tutoring sessions are held by the Literacy Council in many locations across the County, but the main headquarters, complete with library, is in West Lawn.
12. A | You’ll find Austrian’s internationally acclaimed paintings in museums, and his Bon Ami chick in advertising textbooks, but the Reading-born artist is laid to rest in the New Bethel Union Church Cemetery, Kempton.
13. B | Wilson High School, in West Lawn, has quite the reputation when it comes to stellar athletes.
14. A | Beer and pretzels are two products Berks is famous for. After George Lauer established a brewery in 1826 at 3rd and Chestnut in Reading, his civic-minded son Frederick inherited the business and helped found the United States Brewers Association (1862-1986).
15. B | Football crowds at Kutztown University’s stadium will always remember and honor the name and talent of this wide receiver who landed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
16. B | According to historian Sharon Silverman, the Oley Valley area with its ample wildlife, trees, and “picturesque” landscape was where Boone honed his outdoor skills, where “his personality took shape.”
SCORING
Count your number of correct answers and see where you land.
15-16
Call Crystal Seitz at the Greater Reading Visitor’s Bureau! You should be working as a tour guide.
11-14
Street smart!
7-10
Riding with blinders on…
0-6
Dom bonny (that’s Pennsy Dutch for “dumb bunny”)
