Penn's Common
Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Given in common to the citizens of Reading, in 1748, by the family of William Penn.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the mid-18th century, Reading was a young town laid out on the frontier of the Penn family's proprietary colony. In 1748 the Penns set aside this ground as a common — land held for the shared use of the townspeople in the English tradition of a public green. Such commons anchored colonial towns as places for markets, militia musters, and gatherings, and this parcel has served the citizens of Reading ever since.
Why it matters
It preserves the colonial ideal of common land held for the whole community, a civic inheritance from the Penn proprietorship that shaped Pennsylvania's towns.
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Related people
- · William Penn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Henry A. Muhlenberg
Reading, PA · est. 1951
The home of Henry A. Muhlenberg stood on this site in Reading, heart of Pennsylvania's German Lutheran community. Muhlenberg served nearly three decades as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church before entering public life as a congressman, the first U.S. Minister to Austria, and a candidate for governor at his death in 1844. He carried the influence of the region's Pennsylvania German churches into national and diplomatic affairs.
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Marked from the west bank of the Schuylkill, Reading was laid out in 1748 at the direction of Thomas Penn and made the seat of Berks County in 1752. German-speaking settlers gave the town its lasting Pennsylvania-Dutch character, and after incorporation as a borough in 1783 it grew into a thriving industrial community. Ironworks and manufacturing would define its economy for generations.
Solomon Boscov
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Solomon Boscov arrived from Russia in 1911 and built his American life the hard way — walking a peddler's route around Reading before opening a single storefront after World War I. From that modest beginning grew one of Pennsylvania's most enduring family-owned department store chains, expanding steadily through the mid-20th century. By the close of the century, three decades after his death, Boscov's had grown into a 34-store regional institution across five states.
Reading
Reading, PA · est. 1948
Reading was laid out in 1748 by direction of Thomas Penn, son of the colony's founder, and became the seat of the newly formed Berks County in 1752. Settled largely by German immigrants, it grew into a heartland of the Pennsylvania-Dutch culture and, after its incorporation as a borough in 1783, into a bustling industrial town. Its forges, mills, and later factories made it one of the enduring manufacturing centers of the region.