Berks

Formed March 11, 1752 (7^th county)

Berks County (428,840), Reading (95,100)

The Art Deco structure was built of stone and concrete in 1931.  The courthouse is at the intersection of Court and 6^th streets.  United States Highway 422 Business is one block north of the facility.  Miles Dechant and F. H. Dechant are the building designers.  There were also 1761 and 1840 versions of the courthouse in Reading the only county seat.  A County Administration Building was built in 1992 to support the courthouse.  The county was established on March 11, 1752 from Lancaster, Chester, and Philadelphia counties as the 7^th county.  The county and its county seat are named for William Penn’s family home in Reading, Berkshire, England.  Berks County is the birthplace of 2 Pennsylvania governors, Joseph Hiester and Joseph Ritner. 

Berks County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Seventeen Common Pleas Court Judges and Seventeen Magistrate Court Judges serve Berks County.  The county is in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is southeast and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is west of the county.  The county center is 4 miles West-Northwest of Reading in Spring Ridge.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lehigh, Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon, and Schuylkill counties. 

The area of the county is 866 square miles.  It is 18 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 9 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 495.2 persons per square mile making it 12 out of 67 in the state.  Berks County has 40.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 76 clips the southern tip of the county from Chester County, southeast, to Lancaster County, southwest.  Interstate Highway 78 passes east to west from Lehigh County to Lebanon County.  United States Highway 22 is joined with Interstate Highway 78 from Lehigh to Lebanon counties.  United States Highway 222 enters from Lehigh County, northeast, and exits to Lancaster County, southwest.  United States Highway 422 crosses east to west from Chester County to Lebanon County.  The county shape is a diamond with the western point extended out.  Reading is located in the southern third of the county.  Reading is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 22.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced RED-ING.  This county is in the Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area.