History of Berks County - Muhlenberg Township
The following is reproduced from the 1876 Atlas of Berks County, Pennsylvania
This is one of the newest townships in the county. It formerly was embraced within the limits of Alsace, but recently has been erected into a separate municipality. The attention of the inhabitants is devoted principally to agricultural pursuits. In this business they have been very successful, owing to the fertility of the soil, and the industry of the farmers.
The iron interest is very prominent. There are two furnaces within the township. The older, known as "Clymer's Furnace," was originally a charcoal furnace. But it has since been changed and adapted to the newer method of smelting the ore. The Temple Iron Company, organized in 1867, have their works in the township.
The principal places in Muhlenberg are Temple and Tuckerton. The former is situated on the East Penn. Railroad, six miles from Reading.
The only church is that known as Hinnershitz's situated about a mile from the Temple.
There are three stores and six taverns in, Muhlenberg. Of the latter, the one owned by J. W. Smeck, known as "Solomon's Temple," is a fine building.
The township is well supplied with means of communication with the different parts of the country. The main line of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad runs through its limits. Besides this, the East Penn. and Reading and Lehigh, have their tracks within a mile of each other.
The land is very valuable, and its price is increasing rapidly, owing in part to its fertility and in part to its proximity to Reading. Its average value is about two hundred and fifty dollars per acre.
Muhlenberg is bounded on the north by Ontelaunee; on the east by Alsace; on the south by Reading; on the west by Bern. In 1870, the township contained 1,517 inhabitants.