This quiet, mysterious mountain sits north of the city of Reading. It once housed multiple resorts and tourist attractions, and was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape. The name “Neversink” originally derives from the Lenape word “navasink,” meaning “at the promontory.” Today, the mountain sits in solitude, and contains only the relics and ruins of its famous past.
Neversink sits above the Schuylkill River, and is an ideal lookout and fishing spot. This led to the multiple Lenape and colonial settlements along the river’s banks and high on the mountain. Some of the mountain’s settlers were Quakers, a peaceful group of colonists who did not take part in the slaughter of Native Americans. However, they still had their rules, and tensions between the natives and the white settlers were high. In the 1760s, a young Quaker woman named Sarah Wynne fell in love with Unalach, a Native American whose tribe had settled near Neversink Mountain. He shared her love wholeheartedly, and the two wished to marry. However, both Sarah’s and Unalach’s groups forbid their relationship to continue. The two began to meet in secret, before finally deciding that if they could not be bound together in life, they would do so in death. They walked to Point Lookout, a steep cliff on Neversink that overlooked the Schuylkill, and leaped to their deaths. Their spirits are felt as the rapids of the river and in the mountain winds. The last descendant of the Neversink tribes, known only to the people of Reading as “Indian Brown,” would often share this story. He was laid to rest in an unmarked grave on the mountain in 1823.
Neversink’s lush greenery, beautiful views, and desirable position over the Schuylkill led to it’s many tourist attractions in the late 1800s. The first hotel on Neversink, the Highland House, was built in 1884. It contained rich architecture, a dance pavilion, and a beer garden. An incline railroad was built to reach the hotel. The largest hotel was the Neversink Hotel, a massive resort built on 10 acres of land at the mountain’s highest point in 1892. Along with it’s multiple rooms and activities, their was also a lookout pavilion built on the west end of the property. Another hotel built in 1892 was the Centennial Springs Hotel, known for its vineyards and hotel pond. Nearby, the Klapperthal Pavilion was also built in 1892, and it was the largest dance hall in PA at the time. The last Neversink hotel was the Glen Hotel.
Along with the incline railroad to get up the mountain, Neversink also had a mountain railroad to take hotel guests up and around the mountain. The eight miles of railroad, built in 1890, was the first mountain railroad to operate solely on hydroelectric power.
Gradually, the buildings on Neversink either fell out of use or were destroyed. In 1917, the railroad shut down due to America’s growing use of trolleys and automobiles. Klapperthal was demolished in 1903 after sitting in disuse for quite some time. In 1905, the Neversink Hotel was the subject of arson by three unidentified individuals, and the building burnt to the ground. In 1907 the Centennial Springs became a tuberculosis sanatorium, but by 1932 was no longer needed and was demolished. In 1930, the Highland House was also the subject of arson, this time from someone setting off explosions in the basement. The structure had been abandoned since 1915. In 1931, the Glen Hotel was also destroyed by an unknown fire.
Today, the mountain contains hiking and mountain biking trails. Along Neversink sits the many ruins of the mountain’s great past. The stone foundation to the Neversink Hotel is still there, as well as its observation pavilion, now known as “The Witch’s Hat.” The Centennial Springs’ famous pond and wine cellar are abandoned yet still intact. Parts of the base for the mountain railroad are still strewn across the mountain’s landscape, and multiple ruins from other Neversink buildings are still visible. All of these ruins can be visited along with Neversink’s multiple lookout points along its trails.
The ruins of Neversink give it a quiet, eerie atmosphere, and not without good reason. Neversink is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Native Americans and former Neversink guests and residents. The spirits of the star-crossed lovers are said to haunt the trails as glowing lights and jumping figures. The apparition of an angry old man has been spotted multiple times on White House Road on the mountain since 1876. He is known as “Old Levan,” named after a former resident whose unmarked grave sits somewhere near where the ghost has been spotted. Visitors to Neversink often report the sudden feeling of overwhelming sadness or an odd presence. Neversink Mountain is a lesser known hiking spot in the Reading Area, but still boasts a fair amount of history and hauntings, and is a beautiful and peaceful spot to visit.
