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.

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

History

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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

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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

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Houses

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  • 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

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  • 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

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Other buildings

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  • 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

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  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. ^ a b c "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[permanent dead link]
  18. ^ About Berks County Historical Society. Archived 2011-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ 13th & Union Elementary School[permanent dead link]
  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.[1]
  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

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  • "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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