It was the first time Kristine Ritter had been there.
The lifelong Berks County resident ascended Mount Penn Saturday morning, making her inaugural visit to the 120-foot-tall William Penn Memorial Fire Tower.
It was the first time she saw the stone tower up close. It was the first time she climbed its 156 steps. It was the first time she gazed out from the top of it, soaking in the seemingly endless, panoramic scenery the vista provides.
It was all brand new for the Oley Township woman. But not for her family.
Ritter’s trek up the tower, taken as part of an 87th anniversary celebration of the structure that included a lecture and a trip up the monument, placed her in a spot where her ancestors once stood.
For many years after its opening in 1939, Paul and Martha Walker served as caretakers and wardens for the tower. They were Ritter’s great-great-grandparents.
She only discovered the connection a few years ago after reading an article in the Reading Eagle and putting together the pieces of a slightly fractured family tree.
When she saw a Facebook post recently about the anniversary celebration, she thought it would be the perfect time to visit the landmark.
“The fact that they walked up that same staircase was really cool,” she said after making the climb. “I was thinking about how I could have touched the same stones that they touched all those decades ago. This is a little surreal.
“Making this connection to part of my past is such an awesome experience.”
Kristine Ritter looks out over Reading, just as her great, great grandparents – Paul and Martha Walker, the first lookout wardens – did at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower 87th anniversary event Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the tower in Lower Alsace Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Ritter said she has done a little research over the years and came across newspaper clippings about her great-great-grandparents.
She found out they lived on Neversink Mountain and that Paul worked for the city fire department, which may be why they were chosen to watch over the tower.
Ritter has seen social media posts about how the tower may be haunted with the ghosts of Paul and Martha based on stories from volunteers who have reported feeling their presence.
Standing close to Ritter atop the tower, Tatiana Donskova said she found the experience a little surreal as well.
She had attended the lecture and made the climb with her husband, Alexei Prokudin, and 11-year-old son, Misha Prokudin. The Wyomissing family regularly looks for events that highlight the history of the county.
A photogrpah taken May 4, 1939, shows the beginning of the construction at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower. Courtesy of Pagoda-Skyline.
“I like learning about local history and exploring places that I may not have otherwise known about,” she said. “We are so lucky to have something this beautiful and special right here looking out over the city.”
Alexei Prokudin said he thought the experience was amazing. Having lived in Berks for 11 years he had never been to the tower before and was unaware of its purpose.
“This is an incredible landmark, and I was so taken by how a group of volunteers made it possible for everyone to be able to visit this beautiful place,” he said. “Today is definitely a day to remember for my family.”
He said that while they were at the top of the tower, he and his son had some fun trying to find some of the places they know such as the Reading Regional Airport and FirstEnergy Stadium.
Prokudin said they are looking forward to coming back and bringing some friends who will be visiting from out of state next month.
Guardian of the mountain
Saturday began with a history lecture by Corrie Crupi Zana and Mike Reinert at Reading Public Library’s southeast branch. Zana and Reinert, local historians and volunteers of the organization responsible for the tower’s care discussed its history and construction.
Standing atop Mount Penn, the fire tower has overlooked Reading for nearly nine decades. Located along Skyline Drive, the stone and concrete structure reaches about 1,240 feet above sea level and offers panoramic views stretching up to 60 miles.
The site of the tower is the former location of a wooden structure built by the Mount Penn Gravity Railroad Company in 1889. The original tower operated from 1890 to 1923, when it was destroyed in a purported act of arson.
Owned by the city, the tower was built as both a fire observation tower and a tourist attraction in the late 1930s as part of an effort to create jobs in the midst of the Great Depression as well as out of concern for forest land owned by the city and county.
It was designed by Grover Cleveland Freeman of Lower Alsace Township and built under the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal agency that employed job seekers to complete public works projects across the country.
A mosaic created in 1940 for the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower in Lower Alsace Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Inside, steel stairs and concrete landings lead to a spiral staircase that rises to the upper observation levels. An enclosed observation room and outdoor deck provide sweeping views. A copper-covered dome with bronze-framed windows crowns the structure.
Though its stone construction has proved remarkably durable, years of exposure and deferred maintenance eventually took their toll. In September 1988, the state government announced that it would close the tower to the public and stop using it for fire safety after a person was trapped in the tower following a stair collapse.
The nonprofit organization Pagoda-Skyline Inc. helped lead efforts to preserve the landmark through fundraising, public awareness and restoration planning. Following significant repairs to its windows, railings, dome and other features, the tower was reopened in October 2004 to the public on a limited basis.
But public access is being expanded.
As part of the anniversary celebration, organizers are launching Tower Sundays, which will open the landmark from noon to 4 p.m. Sundays during the second, third and fourth quarters of the year through the end of 2027.
Organizers also have launched a website, williampennfiretower.com, where visitors can check schedules and weather-related changes and sign up for TowerTalk notifications.
The William Penn Memorial Fire Tower’s 87th anniversary event Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the tower in Lower Alsace Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)