The History of Emily’s

Each time you dine at Emily’s here in Mohnton, PA, you are stepping back in time…

The small town of Beckersville, Pennsylvania, where Emily’s is located, was named for Joseph Becker, a German carpenter. Becker built and ran a hotel here in 1827. His efforts influenced the establishment of the Beckersville Post Office at the hotel in February 1852. In 1876 following Becker, J.R. Seifert acquired the hotel and post office and ran it from 1876 to 1904.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, John Mountz purchased the Beckersville Hotel. Residents recall his superb white mules tracking through the deep snow to open the roads for traffic. It was around this time that fairs were held in the rear of the hotel. This included dancing and raffles and merriment. There were also cattle sales on the property, held several times a year, to give the locals a chance to purchase calves to raise on their farms.

John Mountz was followed by Lincoln Read and then several others until 1910 when Joseph Richards of Chester County packed up all of his worldly possessions and, in a colorful procession of ox-drawn wagons, the Richards family relocated to Beckersville. Richards then bought and ran the hotel, which then included a general store. Eventually the hotel was turned over to his son, George, who ran it until 1964. In that same year, Martha Binder purchased the property, changed the name to Martha’s Vineyard and converted the hotel into a restaurant.

It remained Martha’s Vineyard until 1977 when Charles Orlando purchased the property and established a fine dining restaurant. Redecorating to highlight its previous antiquity during the 1800’s as a Post Office, he named it The Post Office Inn Restaurant – one of most famous and prestigious restaurants in Berks County. Subsequently, the restaurant was shut down due to Charlie’s association with one of the largest cocaine drug rings in Berks County, using the restaurant as a mule to deal his product. The building sat dormant for two years when it was purchased by two brothers, James and Steve Mooney. In 1997, James sold his interest to his brother and his wife, Nancy Mooney. Steve and Nancy did a great deal of research and as a result renamed the restaurant Emily’s Pub in remembrance of a young girl that died in a fire during the building’s early history. Her spirit remains at Emily’s and has been witnessed by a number of people.

In late 2005, the building was purchased by Carl DeGrazia. He renamed the restaurant Emily’s. Carl purchased Emily’s because of its incredible historic significance. He started making modifications, careful to preserve its history, and saw the potential for a great wedding venue as well as a historic restaurant. Fifteen years later, his vision has come full circle.

As for Emily, her capricious spirit still moves throughout the building today and teases us from time to time. She has also been witnessed in the upstairs windows on many occasions wearing a white dressing gown. Young children have reported playing with the “little girl upstairs” and several super natural experts have seen and received “messages” from Emily while dining in the restaurant. These ghost findings are well documented in a book called the Ghosts of Berks County, written by a famous Berks County resident, Charlie Adams.

It goes without saying Emily’s is known for Good Food, Good Friends, and especially Good “Spirits”!