Gruber Wagon Works

Gruber Wagon Works
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Gruber Wagon Works in 1973
Location	Bern Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°22′14.16″N 75°58′46.56″W / 40.3706000°N 75.9796000°WCoordinates: 40°22′14.16″N 75°58′46.56″W / 40.3706000°N 75.9796000°W
Built	1882
Architect	Franklin H. Gruber
NRHP Reference #	72001092
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 2, 1972[1]
Designated NHL	December 22, 1977[2]

Gruber Wagon Works is a historic building currently in Bern Township, Pennsylvania, United States.^[3]

Franklin H. Gruber, who had been making farm-use wagons since the 1870s, constructed the wagon works in 1882. The business continued operating under the family's ownership, expanding to wagon repair and other manufacturing to adapt to changing demand, until it closed in 1971.^[4]

Unfortunately, the building's original site on the Licking Creek in Pleasant Valley fell within the planned area of Blue Marsh Lake, so it was bought by the Army Corps of Engineers and during the winter of 1976–1977 they relocated it 5 miles (8 km) east to its present location.^[5]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.^[2][5]

It is located on Red Covered Bridge Road in Tulpehocken Creek Park, in vicinity of Reading.

Gruber Wagon Works is now part of the Berks County Heritage Center, an open air complex that also includes the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center with exhibits about canal transportation, Wertz's Covered Bridge, Melcher's Grist Mill, Deppen Cemetery, several memorials and gardens. The Center is open seasonally and offers tours of the historic buildings.

• 

  Frank Gruber's bench

References

1. National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Gruber Wagon Works". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
3. "Pennsylvania's National Historic Landmarks". Archived from the original on April 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
4. County of Berks. "Berks Parks: Gruber Wagon Works". Retrieved 2009-05-25.
5. George R. Adams (June 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Gruber Wagon Works" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 8 photos, exterior and interior, from 1977. (32 KB)

External links

• Berks County Heritage Center
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-14, "Gruber Wagon Works, Pennsylvania Route 183 & State Hill Road at Red Bridge Park, Bernville, Berks County, PA", 215 photos, 11 measured drawings, 32 data pages, 19 photo caption pages