Shoemakersville is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 1,378 tabulated in 2010.

History

Shoemakersville was named for the first settlers, Henry and Charles Shoemaker. It was a thriving apparel manufacturing town.

The Merit Underwear Company factory was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Geography

Shoemakersville is located in northern Berks County at (40.500042, -75.969047), on the east bank of the Schuylkill River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which , or 3.96%, is water.

|footnote=US Census

As of the census

Education

Perry Elementary is located on Fourth Street in Shoemakersville, and it is one of two elementary schools in the Hamburg Area School District. Perry has a student to teacher ratio of 22:1, serving 380

Pennsylvania Route 61 passes through the borough, leading south to Reading, and north to Interstate 78/U.S. Route 22 in Hamburg. Pennsylvania Route 662 begins at PA 61 on the eastern border of Shoemakersville and heads southeast to an intersection with U.S. Route 222 in Moselem Springs and Fleetwood.

Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA) provides bus service to Shoemakersville along Route 20, which follows PA 61 on its route between Hamburg to the north and the BARTA Transportation Center in Reading to the south.

SEPTA's Pottsville Line once provided passenger rail service to Shoemakersville, with service to Pottsville, Reading, and Philadelphia. The service ceased in 1981 after all diesel services were cancelled. Freight service in Shoemakersville is provided by the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, which operates a branch line between Hamburg and Temple through Shoemakersville and its Reading Division mainline through West Shoemakersville.

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File:Merit Underwear 2 Shoemakersville BerksCo PA.JPG|Merit Underwear Company.

File:Ollie's Tavern, Shoemakersville BerksCo PA.JPG|Ollie's Tavern on Main St.

File:Salem UMC, Shoemakersville BerksCo PA.JPG|Salem UMC.

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References

  • Shoemakersville website