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–Not graded
History · Pennside

22% of Pennside’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Pennside’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pennside are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Pennside’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pennside’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pennside’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Pennside, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pennside yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Pennside is a census-designated place in Lower Alsace and Exeter Townships in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located approximately four miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Reading. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,215 residents.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,215 to 5,190 (+23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Pennside

Nobody well known was born in Pennside itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John UpdikeAmerican novelist, poet · b. 1932
Wallace StevensAmerican poet · b. 1879
Chad HurleyAmerican businessman, co-founder of YouTube · b. 1977
John BarrassoAmerican physician and politician · b. 1952
Spencer Fullerton BairdAmerican naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologi… · b. 1823
A
Austin SwiftAmerican actor · b. 1992
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Mount PennIts storyA−Lower Alsace TownshipIts storyBStony Creek MillsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townExeter Township7 historic placesB−St. Lawrence2 historic placesB

Questions about Pennside’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →