Berks Places is a recurring feature that will focus on small villages and census designated places throughout the county. History, nostalgia and local voices will shed some light on the quaint nooks and crannies of our area. Additional historical photographs accompany the online version of the articles.
The village of Barto in Washington Township was laid out in 1869 by Thomas Christman, guardian of Abraham H. Barto, according to Morton L. Montgomery’s “History of Berks County in Pennsylvania,” published in 1886. When it was first laid out, the town was known as Mount Pleasant because of its proximity to where the Mount Pleasant Furnace once stood, Montgomery wrote.
Its formation was the direct result of the installation of the Colebrookdale Railroad, a section of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad that ran from Pottstown to Boyertown. The 12.8-mile line opened to travel in 1869 with eight stations along the route.
“The post office at Barto was established as Barto’s on March 16, 1882,” Berks County historian George M. Meiser IX wrote in an email last week. “It was renamed Bartos on Dec. 1, 1894, and on Aug. 20, 1902, it was again renamed as Barto. During the time of the three changes, Benjamin F. Sell was postmaster.”
As fickle as history seems to be with spelling, Montgomery also noted that Abram H. Barto was the son of Isaac Bartow, “as the name was first spelled,” and his second wife, Magdalena Huber.
Bartow and his first wife, Elizabeth Feger, had moved in 1813 from Oley to 150 acres in what was then Hereford Township and is now Washington Township, according to Montgomery. Abram, also known as Abraham in some deeds and references, inherited the property when he was just 10 years old after his father died on June 27, 1865.
According to county deed records, Abraham’s guardian, Thomas Christman, sold two parcels totaling 4 acres of the Barto land to the Colebrookdale Railroad for $1,286.30 on Aug. 1, 1870. A train station/depot was constructed on the site and was first called Mount Pleasant because of its proximity to the former Mount Pleasant Furnace, Montgomery wrote.
“The name was changed to Barto in 1875 by the railroad company, to distinguish it from other places of the same name,” Montgomery’s book explained. “In 1881 it contained a store, hotel, 13 dwellings and 66 inhabitants. An extensive business in coal and lumber is carried on by William D. Schall. A large and valuable body of magnetic iron-ore has been mined in the immediate vicinity.”
The mines continue to make their presence known today.
“You might recall the Eagle running several articles about a year ago in regard to a huge sinkhole opening at Barto,” Meiser said. “Some years ago, a teen fell into one of the old mine holes which made big news thereabouts. That whole area around Barto is undermined.”
Despite the proclivity of the former mines making headlines, they are not something that can be toured.
“The most interesting site at Barto is the old Barto train depot, end of the line of the Colebrookdale railroad,” Meiser said. “When I first visited the depot maybe 40 years ago, it was in marvelous, restored condition. After that owner died, the next folks down the line did nothing to the structure, and the last time I visited, it was in deplorable condition, which is a crime!”
The former station is now a residence at 143 Barto Road, and the exterior looks like it has been updated.
The original Barto Hotel still stands at 140 Barto Road and currently operates as Whiskey Girl Saloon. The building has been owned by Atlantis Business Ventures Inc. since Aug. 10, 2017.
Barto also is home to a world-renowned spiritual destination that honors Catholic Saint Padre Pio, who was born Francesco Forgione in Pietrelcina, Italy, on May 25, 1887.
Vera and Harry Calandra of Norristown founded the National Centre for Padre Pio in 1971 to honor the man would become a saint. The Calandras’ daughter Vera Marie was born with a congenital birth defect in 1966 that was predicted to be fatal. After an audience with Padre Pio in Italy in 1968, the little girl began to heal.
Padre Pio is recognized as the first priest to bear the stigmata, the wounds Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, according to the Saint Pio Foundation. The wounds manifested on Pio’s body beginning Sept. 20, 1918. Pope John Paul II declared Padre Pio as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina on June 16, 2002.
Three of the Calandras’ six children still work at the refuge at 111 Barto Road in Washington Township.
