George Haggerty

A member of the Reading Bears that won the world professional basketball title (1913). Born in Chicafee, MA, he is a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA and a member of the original New York Celtics. The Horse was the first of the good big men in basketball and was initially named by Bill Brandt, a sportswriter for the old Philadelphia Record. A Boston newsman wrote, “Baseball has its Babe Ruth. Horse Haggerty is basketball’s attraction.” (1925). Haggerty’s most publicized feat, in those days, was that of holding a basketball with one hand. After two years at Fort Wayne, Haggerty moved to Washington as coach of George Preston Marshall’s Palace team in the American Basketball League. He later played semi-pro basketball. After leaving basketball as a vocation, George worked as a bricklayer (the occupation of his father) for many years. He helped to build the National Art Gallery and the Social Security building in Washington, D.C. He lived the rest of his life at 657 North Front Street, Reading, PA and was laid to rest at the Birdsboro Cemetery.

Deceased