Berks County, Pennsylvania

County: Berks

State: Pennsylvania

Lat/Long: 40.6167, -75.8667

The Pennsylvania Provisional Assembly established Berks County on March 11, 1752, carving it out of Chester, Lancaster, and Philadelphia counties. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, southwest of Allentown, Berks County is named for Berkshire, England, the home county of William Penn. In 1772, the Pennsylvania Assembly took part of the northwest portion of the county to create Northumberland County, and in 1811, it took another portion to establish Schuylkill County, reducing Berks County to its current size. Reading is the county seat.

Frank R. Abate, ed., American Places Dictionary (Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1994), 1:361; Morton L. Montgomery, History of Berks County in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), 74-79.