Freight Station - AAA East Penn
Historic Pottstown Walking Tour
Pottstown's growing importance as a regional manufacturing center prompted the Reading Co. to upgrade its facilities here in the 1920's. On the 26th of December in 1924, the Reading Co. revealed plans for the construction of a new $1,000,000 passenger and freight station in Pottstown. The Reading Co. purchased five homes on Hanover St. and several business properties on the south side of the tracks and underwrote the cost of the new plants for Pottstown Cold Storage and Auchenbach Wholesale Grocery Co.
Virtually devoid of ornamentation, the Station is significant architecturally because it shows the development of a “modern” facility emphasizing utilitarian concepts. The station continued in use by the Reading Railroad and later Conrail through 1976. In 1986, Freight Station Associates, a partnership that consisted of Ronald and Eugene Dinnocenti and the East Penn Motor Club, purchased the property for rehabilitation, thereby preserving this historic landmark.
AAA East Penn dates back to 1908, when it was chartered as the Pottstown Automobile club. In 1927, it became affiliated with the American Automobile Association (AAA); and in 1979, it became the East Penn Motor Club. In 1999, AAA East Penn and AAA Lehigh Valley consolidated their operations and became known as AAA East Penn. As an affiliate of AAA and the Pennsylvania AAA Federation, AAA East Penn provides its members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive services.
Marker is at the intersection of Hanover Street and South Street, on the right when traveling south on Hanover Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
