Ground was broken for the Berkshire Hotel in December of 1913.

A spell of extreme cold weather delayed construction for two months, but the hotel was completed and opened on New Year’s Day 1915. (Only ten and a half months of construction time!)

Many of the great hotels in the early 20th century advertised prominently their fire-proof protection – which is understandable if you look into the history of disastrous hotel and boarding house fires in the late 19th century.

I love old hotels, and mourn the fact that that so few have survived as hotels; too often, the expense of replacing century-old fixtures and of accommodating modern plumbing and electrical needs is prohibitively high.

This building still stands in Reading (as of 2019), but has not been a hotel for some time.

This postcard photograph was made sometime in the mid-1930’s, the blurb on the reverse references the “new” Skyline Boulevard.

The postcard was published by the Merget News Agency of Reading.