Holy Cross United Methodist Church

329 N. 5th Street

History: The first Methodist in Berks County started meeting in 1773. The first meetings in Reading were held in a log house, then moved to a schoolhouse. Later, a house was bought for the Methodist Church on Third Street named Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church. Another structure was built on S. Fourth Street in 1839. By the 1880s, around 400 members were part of the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church. Due to the size of the congregation, members wanted to build a new church and Sunday school located on N. 5th Street. The selected architect for the project was Thomas P. Lonsdale. The new church was named “The Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church” and then later renamed “Memorial Church of the Holy Cross” in 1901.