The Gruber Wagon Works: The Place where Time Stood Still

"The Gruber Wagon Works" documents the history of the Gruber family and its small business that operated from 1882 through 1971 in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. From its inception through the remaining decades of the pre-automotive era, the Gruber Works was representative of the many small wagon-making businesses that occurred throughout the United States. As the automotive era emerged, wagon-making businesses typically either transformed or vanished, but the Gruber business – an exception -- continued to make wagons and other conveyances until the 1950s and to repair these vehicles through 1971. In the 1970s, the Gruber building and its contents were acquired by the US Army Corps of Engineers as part of a flood-control project and moved about five miles to a site nearer the city of Reading, after which ownership was transferred to Berks County and since which time it has served as a unique museum and interpretive center devoted to documenting and explaining the tools, materials, technology, and process of wagon-making.