Postcard: "The Tower and Hotel, on Mount Penn. Reading, Pa."

This is one of the postcards that just missed the cut during Papergreat's recent Postcard Blogathon.

Pictured on this old, damaged card are buildings and a gravity railroad car on a moonlit night atop Mount Penn, a mountaintop borough that overlooks the city of Reading, Pennsylvania.

A nearly identical view can be found on page 63 of the 2000 book "Reading in Vintage Postcards" by Charles J. Adams III.

Adams' postcard caption provides a great deal more insight on both postcards and states:

"Mount Penn Tower. The dance hall and concession stand are visible in this c. 1910 view of the former Mount Penn Tower and Tower Hotel. The buildings were the ultimate destinations and the high point of the Mount Penn Gravity Railroad. One of the Gravity Railroad's cars is seen at the right. The tower depicted here went up in flames in spectacular fashion April 26, 1923."

For more information, check out these links and websites:

• Reading Eagle: "Cloud-shrouded fire tower overlooking Reading perfect spot for ghost stories," a 2009 article by Darrin Youker
• Reading Eagle: "What became of the gravity railroad that once ran up Mount Penn?"
• Historical Society of Berks County: Mount Penn Gravity Railroad (Photos)
• Historical Society of Berks County: "The Gravity Railroad" by Corrie Crupi
• Pagoda Skyline Inc.: William Penn Memorial Fire Tower