Below: This handsome
marker stands in the Birdsboro community park.
Below: The hub of much
activity and civic pride is the Birdsboro Community Center. The
building dates to 1751 and was the Bird family mansion. In 1919, it
became the community center.
Below: The former
headquarters of the E&G Brooke Land Company (built 1938) now
serves as the borough hall in Birdsboro.
Below: Floods have
shaped history of Birdsboro. High-water marks of the Schuylkill
River have been marked and preserved on this railroad bridge in the
borough.
THE FACTS: Yes
there was a bird after which the boro was named. It was not the bird
of feathers fame, it was a bird with a capital "B."
William Bird, one of early Berks
County's most influential citizens, is the namesake of the town.
Bird established the first iron forge in the area and owned
thousands of acres of land around 1740. He was instrumental in the
definition of Berks County's borders and the formation of the
county.
William's son, Mark Bird, took over the
family forge in 1762 and built it into one of the largest in the
Colonies. In 1770, he established Hopewell Furnace. The operation,
south of Birdsboro, is now a National Historic Site.
Another capital "B" family,
entered the picture around 1800 when Matthew Brooke became co-owner
of Hopewell. His family expanded the ironmaking operations and
formed a land sales company. The Brooke firm evolved into the
Birdsboro Steel Corporation, which once dominated Birdsboro.
THE FIGURES: Birdsboro
takes up 1.4 square miles of land, and within it dwell some 4,600
resident. The village became a borough in November, 1872.
THE FUN STUFF: Since
1927, the water tower of the Birdsboro Corporation has poked its
bulbous form into the sky over town. That water tower stands 167
feet tall.
Birdsboro once boasted its own weekly
newspaper, the Birdsboro Dispatch (which evolved into the News
of Southern Berks), several hotels, and theaters such as the
"Diamond" and "Hippodrome."
In the late 19th century, some of the
world's finest mining drill bits were made at the Diamond Drill Co.
in Birdsboro.
Old-timers in Birdsboro will know the
names "Mexico," "Texas," "Brooklyn,"
and "Lincolntown." They are all archaic names for
neighborhoods in the borough
Although roads and railroads have played
major roles in the growth and development of Birdsboro, it is the
town's waterways-the Schuylkill Canal, Hay Creek, and Schuylkill
River that have been etched most often into the town's history, and
not always for good reasons.
As early as 1757, floods and freshets
have vexed Birdsboro. That year marked the first recorded flood
swept the town in 1850 when the river rose to a seemingly
unthinkable 25 feet.
But, the grandmammy of all floods came
in 1972 when more than ten inches of rain pounded the area during
Tropical Storm Agnes. The Hay Creek had nowhere to flow as the river
swelled to 31 feet. Birdsboro was among the hardest-hit towns in
Berks County as floodwaters devastated much of the center section of
the borough. Too add to the misery, a fire amidst the flood swept
through a large furniture store in town.
Hopefully, no such calamity will strike
Birdsboro. The "Agnes" flood resulted in increased
awareness of flood control needs. Several projects were undertaken
in the Schuylkill River basin to prevent future floods.
Thanks to WEEU's Charles J. Adams III for help
in compiling this material.
34 North Fourth Street, Reading, PA 19601
Phone: 610-376-7335 Fax: 610-376-7756
E-mail: weeu@weeu.com
