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Albany Township Historical Society

Our mission is to collect historical artifacts and documents, to preserve historical landmarks, to provide opportunities for education and research and to preserve the PA German language and other local dialects and finally, to preserve the culture of the past, present and future.

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Albany Township is located in the northern corner of Berks County, Pennsylvania. The township was established sometime between 1739 and 1752. The early settlers came from the German Palatinate, Switzerland and an area known as “Allemaengel”. The Blue Mountain chain borders the township to the north with the “Pinnacle” being the highest peak in Albany Township and Berks County.

There are six remaining villages in Albany Township, Albany, Eckville, Kempton, Quaker City, Stony Run and Trexler . Because of its relatively unchanged representation of a self sufficient village that has been in existence for over a century Trexler was placed on the registry of National Historic Districts in late 2001. Historical Society headquarters is the Grain & Feed Warehouse in the village of Trexler which is located on Old Philly Pike in the upper corner of Albany Township.

The land where Trexler is located was originally part of the 1733 land grant from the Penn brothers. Prominent landmarks and buildings in Trexler include the three arch stone bridge built in 1841; a Georgian influenced log house circa 1790; a grain and feed warehouse built in 1917 by Frank and Ed Trexler; the Trexler General Store & Post Office and three other late victorian homes.

The village was a thriving center of commerce in the latter half of the nineteenth century with an operating tannery, cider mill, store, post office, cabinet maker, undertaker and blacksmith. After the railroad was built it became a center of import and export for lime, fertilizer, potatoes, coal, produce and other farm equipment and related necessities.

Many of the people in Albany Township were born and raised here, some on land passed down from their elders. Others come from distant cities, to live in a place mostly untouched by modern times. Nearby attractions are Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the Appalachian Trail, WK&S Railroad and the Kempton Community Center. . The serene beauty of the rolling hills, quiet valleys, flowing streams and still ponds compliment the 19th century fieldstone houses, homestead farms and small historic villages.