Thomas A. Willson & Company (1946), Reading, Pennsylvania. Now GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

Muhlenberg Brothers was one of the dominant architecture/engineering firms in Reading, Pennsylvania during the first half of the 20th century, founded by a member of the Muhlenberg political dynasty.

History

It was established in 1892 by Charles Henry Muhlenberg IV (1870–1960), who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and apprenticed under the architect Frank Furness.[1] His brother, Frederick Hunter Muhlenberg II (1865–1933), attended both Lafayette College and MIT. The founder's son, Charles Henry Muhlenberg V (1899–1985), who attended the University of Wisconsin and MIT (and played a role in the spread of the Monopoly board game[2]), joined the firm in 1923. Frederick Hunter Muhlenberg II left the firm in the mid-1920s to go into partnership with his nephew, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg II, operating as Muhlenberg & Muhlenberg.

Its main offices were located at 113-A South Fourth Street in Reading. It established a branch office in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and one in St. Petersburg, Florida in the 1920s.[3] By 1937, Frederick H. Muhlenberg II had died, Charles H. Muhlenberg IV was listed as a consultant, G. Russell Steininger was no longer part of the firm, and Charles H. Muhlenberg V and Frederick R. Shenk were the principals.[4] The firm continued until about 1965, when Shenk formed Frederick R. Shenk & Lee V. Seibert.[5]

Work

Muhlenberg Brothers designed both residential and commercial works, and large projects such as office buildings, churches and factories. Among the commissions were a vaudeville theater, a number of public school buildings, and much of the campus of Albright College. G. Russell Steininger, landscape architect, was a principal in the firm by 1929. A number of the firm's works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[6]

The Historical Society of Berks County owns two portfolios of photographs of Muhlenberg Brothers buildings, from 1929 and 1937, along with hundreds of blueprints from the firm.

Selected works

Houses

  • W. W. Kline House (1905–07), 200 Wilson Street, West Lawn, Pennsylvania. Featured in The Architectural Review, Volume 14 (1907), pp. 84–85.[7]
  • Frederick H. Muhlenberg II House (1907), 1020 Centre Avenue, Reading, Pennsylvania. The architect's own house.[8]
  • Alterations to Harbster House (c. 1910), 742 Centre Avenue, Reading, Pennsylvania. Frank Furness designed the house (c. 1886).[9] Charles H. Muhlenberg IV may have worked on the original house while in Furness's office.
  • Charles H. Muhlenberg IV House (1926), 1221 Garfield Avenue, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. The architect's own house.
  • John M. Frame House (1927), 901 N. Third Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[10] Designed by Frederick H. Muhlenberg II.

Churches

  • Rectory (1893) and Parish Hall (), St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 151 N. Ninth Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[11]
  • Holy Spirit Lutheran Church (1922), Fourth & Windsor Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania.[12]
  • First Church of Christ Scientist (1925), Centre Avenue & Greenwich Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.
  • First Presbyterian Church (), 200 North Ninth Street, Ashland, Pennsylvania. Now First United Methodist Presbyterian Church.[13]
  • Immanuel United Church of Christ (1955–59), 99 S. Waverly Street, Shillington, Pennsylvania.[14]

Schools and cultural institutions

Other buildings

  • Daniel F. Ancona Building (c. 1899), 604 North Fifth Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.
  • Red Men Hall (1900), 831-33 Walnut Street, Reading, Pennsylvania. NRHP-listed.[6]
  • Farmers National Bank (1909), Penn Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.
  • Hippodrome Theatre (1910, demolished 1970s), 751-57 Penn Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[29] Built as a vaudeville house, it was later expanded into a 1,228-seat movie theater.
  • Reading Armory Drill Hall (1910–11), Rose & Walnut Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania.
  • Alterations to Reading Hospital (1910–13), Front & Spring Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania.[30]
  • C. K. Whitner Department Store (1911), 438-44 Penn Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[31]
  • Carpenter Steel Company, Annealing Building (1915), River Road & Exeter Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[32]
  • Bank of Hamburg Savings & Trust Co. (1923), 52-54 South Fourth Street, Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Part of Hamburg Historic District.
  • Masonic Building (1925), 4 South Second Street, Pottsville, Pennsylvania.[33][34]
  • City Bank and Trust Company (1937–40, demolished), 538 Penn Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.
  • Thomas A. Willson & Company, Building 2 (1946), 201 Washington Street, Reading, Pennsylvania.[35] NRHP-listed.[6] Now GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

Notes

  1. ↑ Charles H. Muhlenberg obituary from The Reading Eagle, December 12, 1960.
  2. ↑ "The Landlord's Game: Lizzie Magie and Monopoly's Anti-Capitalist Origins (1903)". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 26 Dec 2023.
  3. ↑ "Muhlenberg Bros. Registered Architects," The Palm Beach Post, December 4, 1925, p. B-4.
  4. ↑ Selections from the Work of Muhlenberg Brothers, Registered Architects (New York, Architectural Catalog Co., 1937).
  5. ↑ "Frederick R. Shenk & Lee V. Seibert". The American Institute of Architects. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 Jul 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  7. ↑ Kline house from The Architectural Review.
  8. ↑ "To Erect a Handsome Home on Centre Avenue". Reading Eagle. 17 Mar 1907.
  9. ↑ George E. Thomas, et al., Frank Furness: The Complete Works (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, revised edition 1996), p. 258.
  10. ↑ Frame House from Centre Park Historic District.
  11. ↑ St. Paul's R. C. Church from GoReadingBerks.
  12. ↑ Holy Spirit Lutheran Church
  13. ↑ First United Methodist Presbyterian Church Archived 2013-07-04 at archive.today
  14. ↑ Immanuel History Timeline Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine from Immanuel United Church of Christ.
  15. ↑ Reading YWCA from eBay.
  16. ↑ McAdoo High School
  17. ↑ Tyson-Schoener School
  18. ↑ About Berks County Historical Society. Archived 2011-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ 13th & Union Elementary School
  20. ↑ Blue Mountain Elementary School Cressona
  21. ↑ Wyomissing Public Library History. Archived 2013-07-05 at archive.today
  22. ↑ History from Jeanes Library.
  23. ↑ About Us from Jeanes Library.
  24. ↑ St. Clair High School from Saint Clair Then and Now.
  25. ↑ Muhlenberg School District History. Archived 2013-07-04 at archive.today
  26. ↑ Teel Hall from Historic College Architecture Project.
  27. ↑ Hall of Science from Historic College Architecture.
  28. ↑ Albright College Chapel from Historic College Architecture Project.
  29. ↑ Reading Hippodrome from Cinema Treasures.
  30. ↑ Sweet's Catalogue of Buildings Construction (1913), p. 459.
  31. ↑ Whitner's from GoReadingBerks.
  32. ↑ Carpenter Steel Mill from Google.
  33. ↑ Pottsville Masonic Building from Seth Gaines via Flickr.
  34. ↑ "Pottsville Masons to erect 5-story temple, Reading men the architects," The Reading Eagle, March 22, 1925.
  35. ↑ Shelby Weaver Splain & Doug Scott, Thomas A. Willson & Company, NRHP Registration Form (2006), p. 5: https://gis.penndot.gov/CRGISAttachments/SiteResource/H080622_01H.pdf

References

  • "Reading's Architects," The Reading Eagle, December 8, 1895, p. 4.
  • Selections from the Work of Muhlenberg Brothers, Registered Architects, Landscaping (New York: Architectural Catalog Co., 1929).
  • Selections from the Work of Muhlenberg Brothers, Registered Architects (New York, Architectural Catalog Co., 1937).
  • Architecture & Design Magazine, 5 (August 1941): entire issue devoted to the work of Muhlenberg Brothers.
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