You Ask Youker is a weekly feature providing answers to quirky curiosities of the Berks County area.
Q: How did Sinking Spring get its name?
Take a drive through the center of Sinking Spring, where Route 724 and Penn Avenue come together in a bustling, congested intersection.
Look around. Sinking Spring's history is right underfoot.
It's pretty easy to miss, but right between a shuttered bank and a Dunkin' Donuts on Penn Avenue is a small spring.
This place, once a valuable source of water for Lenape Indians and early farmers in the region, is the namesake for Sinking Spring.
The spring is in an area that resembles a ditch, and a small run was built to direct water under Penn Avenue. The flow eventually ends up in the Cacoosing Creek.
Water can no longer be seen flowing above ground. During a recent visit, the area appeared more like the remains of an old well than a mountain spring.
But somewhere underground is the famed sinking spring, said Paul Miller, president of the Sinking Spring Area Historical Society.
