June 5, 1931: Demolition of Oldest Houses in Boyertown Begun to Accommodate Gas Station

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

June 5, 1931: Work has just begun to tear down three of the oldest houses in Boyertown, located on the southwest corner of South Reading Avenue and East Third Street. The present owner of the properties, the Atlantic Refining Company, “plans to improve the property” with a gas station (that has been beautifully restored by the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles).

Plans are to demolish a little white stucco log cabin, the oldest building still standing in town, built around 1783 as a tailor shop for Peter Mauer and later used as a residence, the office of a Justice of the Peace and more recently as a tiny factory where cigars were manufactured, the log cabin beside it, and a long brick house that was originally the residence of the Heller family.

More News from Boyertown

• TRADITIONS While traditions are considered unchanging, life changes constantly and new traditions must be created; what lasts is the desire to give thanks for life, mutable as it is.
• A Pictorial Tour Through the History of Boyertown: Main Street Businesses page 21 Main Street--page 21