'Reading' is a town in
Middlesex County,
Massachusetts,
United States. The population was 23,708 at the 2000 census.
History
"Reading's original settlers came from England in the 1630s to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many arrived through the ports of Lynn and Salem. In 1639 some citizens of Lynn petitioned the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for "place for an inland plantation." The General Court granted them six square miles, then an additional four. The first settlement called Lynn Village was on the south shore of the Great Pond, what is now known as Lake Quannapowitt. On June 10th, 1644 the settlement was incorporated by the House of Deputies as the Town of Reading, taking its name from Reading, England. The first church was organized soon after the settlement, and the first parish, later known as South Reading, became Wakefield in 1868. A special grant in 1651 added land north of the Ipswich River to the Town of Reading. This area in 1853 became the separate Town of North Reading. During its early years, the area which is currently the Town of Reading, was known as Wood End, or Third Parish.
In 1693, Town Meeting voted to fund public education in Reading. The funding consisted of "four pounds for three months school in the Town, two pounds for the west end of the Town, and one pound for those north of the Ipswich River." Within the present Town of Reading, the Parker Tavern is the Town's oldest remaining seventeenth century structure, built in 1694. This property is currently owned and operated by the Reading Antiquarian Society, which is a non-profit corporation. In 1769, the meetinghouse, in what is now Reading was built. It was constructed in the area which is currently the Common in Reading. A stone marker commemorates the site.
Reading played an active role in the American Revolutionary War. Minute Men were prominently involved in the engagements pursuing the retreating British Red Coats after the skirmish at Concord Bridge. Dr. John Brooks, Captain of the "Fourth Company of Minute" remained in the army for eight years of distinguished service, including White Plains and Valley Forge. He later became the ninth governor of Massachusetts. Only one Reading soldier was killed in action during the Revolution. Joshua Eaton died in the battle of Saratoga in 1777.
In 1791, sixty members of the "West Parish" which is the current Town of Reading, started the Federal Library. This was a subscription Library with each member paying S1.00 to join, and annual dues of S.25. The Town's public library was created in 1868.
The Andover-Medford Turnpike, a private corporation, currently Main Street or Route 28, was built in 1806-7. This provided the citizens of Reading with a better means of travel to the Boston area. In 1845, the Boston & Maine Railroad came to Reading and improved the access to Boston, and the southern markets. During the first half of the nineteen century, Reading became a manufacturing town. Sylvester Harnden's furniture factory, Daniel Pratt's clock factory, and Samuel Pierce's organ pipe factory were major businesses. By the mid 1800s, Reading had thirteen establishments that manufactured chairs and cabinets. The making of shoes began as a cottage industry and expanded to large factories. Neckties were manufactured here for about ninety years. During and after Civil War the southern markets for Reading's products declined and several of its factories closed. For many years, Reading was an important casket-manufacturing center.
Reading members of the Richardson Light Guard of South Reading fought at the first battle of Bull Run. The second company was formed as part of the Grand Army of the Potomac, and a third company joined General Bank's expedition in Louisiana. A total of 411 men from Reading fought in the Civil War, of whom 15 died in action and 33 died of wounds and sickness. A memorial exists in the Laurel Hill Cemetery commemorating those who died in the Civil War.
Following the Civil War, Reading became a residential community with Boston and Maine commuter service and Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway service to Boston. Both commuter services were later taken over by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and for many years, there was discussion of extending the MBTA Orange Line to Reading. Industrial expansion during that time included the Goodall-Sanford Co. off Ash Street, later sold to General Tire & Rubber Company. Additional businesses created after World War I included the Boston Stove Foundry, Roger Reed Waxes, Ace Art, Addison Wesley Publishing and several other companies. For many years, Wes Parker's Fried Clams was a landmark off state Route 128. The town also became a military installation, with two NIKE missile sites located in the town, one on Bear Hill and the other off Haverhill Street, and the opening of Camp Curtis Guild, a National Guard training facility. The business community currently consists of a number of retail and service businesses in the downtown area, a series of commercial businesses in and around the former town dump on Walker's Brook Road (formerly John Street) as well as the Analytical Sciences Corporation (TASC).
The governmental structure of the Town of Reading has evolved since its creation in 1644. Initially, the government consisted of a Town Meeting and a Board of Selectmen. During the early years of the Town, this governmental structure was adequate for the needs of the community. As the Town grew and the Open Town Meeting became impractical, the Town adopted the Limited Town Meeting with the enactment by the state legislature of Chapter 7 of the Acts of 1944. The limited, sometimes incorrectly called representative, town meeting restricted voting to members elected from what were initially four precincts and a long list of elected officials. A comprehensive by-law revision in the 1970s sharply limited the number of ex-officio town meeting members. The special act of 1944 served as the town's charter for many years. After several government studys by volunteer committees, a Charter Commission was elected in 1975, which recommended broad changes in town government, including appointment of a town administrator and a drastic reduction in the number of elected positions. The town had elected such functions as assessors and tree warden. The charter proposed in 1976 was rejected, but several of its changes were implemented through by-law changes. Ten years later, a new Charter Commission recommended a similar plan, which included a Town Manager. Residents of Reading adopted the Reading Home Rule Charter in March of 1986. This form of government focused the policy and decision making function in a very few elected boards and committees, and provided for the creation of the Town Manager position to be responsible for day to day operations of the local government. In 1994, Reading celebrated its 350th Anniversary of incorporation as a Town."
[1]
20th Century
Reading town officials raised a national controversy in the late 1970s when they refused to grant a common victulators license to the Sambo's Restaurant chain on the ground that its name was based on racial stereotyping. A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the chain, but the restaurant opened and failed. The chain subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection and liquidated its assets in the Eastern United States.
Geography
Reading is located at (42.52585, -71.109939).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.7
km² (9.9
mi²). None of the area is covered with water.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 23,708 people, 8,688 households, and 6,437 families residing in the town. The
population density was 921.8/km² (2,388.3/mi²). There were 8,823 housing units at an average density of 343.1/km² (888.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.47%
White, 0.36%
Black or
African American, 0.06%
Native American, 2.21%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.21% from
other races, and 0.65% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population.
There were 8,688 households out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.5% were
married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $77,059, and the median income for a family was $89,076. Males had a median income of $61,117 versus $39,817 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $32,888. About 1.7% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.
Government
The Town of Reading has a form of municipal government with a five-member Board of Selectmen and a Town Manager as the chief executive. Reading town government was run by an Open Town Meeting until the 1940s, when the town voted to establish a Limited Town Meeting, with members elected from, four (now eight) precincts
[2]. The limited town meeting was joined by a long list of elected officials. The town elected every officer from selectmen and school committee to tree warden and town treasurer. For many years, several elected positions were held by the same, reliable people. Boyd H. Stewart and James Putnam each held multiple offices for many years. But as the town grew and state mandates became more extensive, the town grappled with structural issues.
The first major change in town government came in the late 1960s, when the town created the position of Executive Secretary/Town Accountant. For the first time, the three member board of selectmen had an administrative officer. After several years with a combined position, the Town Meeting voted to split the job into two posts.
Reading for years relied on a volunteer government in which town issues were addressed discretely by a series of public-minded individuals who administered town affairs as a public calling, not as a political imperative. Moderators Charles Howard and Attorney Kenneth C. Latham served multiple one-year terms for decades without opposition. Highly qualified members of the community served as selectmen. Volunteers with special qualifications filled positions ranging from the Board of Public Works to the Municipal Light Board.
As the complexities of town government grew, the town attempted minor adjustments. In the late 1960s, a town government study committee recommended some modifications to the way Reading's government operated, but operated with the assumption that the basic structure would remain unchanged.
Then in the early 1970s, outside influences came increasingly to play on Reading government. State mandates increased. Citizen demand for services increased. The town's limited land area, its closeness to Boston and its unique position of being bisected by both state Route 128 and Interstate 93 increased the demands of developers for city services while simultaneously increasing the town's responsibilities for oversight of development.
Then, after continuing the tradition of electing the same individual to the offices of tax collector and town treasurer, the town found that the responsibilities of the position outweighed the ability of part time employees to get the job done. A cash "discrepency" was discovered on the treasurer's books. There were never allegations of wrong-doing, but the town's books did not balance. A national accounting firm was retained to resolve the issue, and to provide both an audit of the treasurer's accounts and a managerial audit of the town's business practices.
After considering the audits, the Town Meeting voted to create yet another Town Government Study Committee. But unlike prior committees, this panel took its responsibilities seriously.
In recent years the town of Reading struggled with the decisions to build a new elementary school, to cope with the influx of new familes to the community, and renovate the severly aging Reading Memorial High School. Both of these projects were approved and as of August 2007 the new building at the High School is nearing completion.
Education
Reading was an early and active participant in Boston's
METCO program, which brought African-American and inner-city students from
Boston to attend grades K-12.
Points of interest
★ The Parker Tavern - The Town's oldest remaining 17th Century structure, built in 1694. This property, on Washington Street, is currently owned and operated by the non-profit Reading Antiquarian Society.
★ The roof of the St. Athanasius Parish, on Haverhill St., was designed by Louis A. Scibelli and Daniel F. Tulley, and is one of the largest
hyperbolic paraboloids in the Western Hemisphere
★ Burbank Arena skating rink on Haverhill St. as well as private condos on Bear Hill St. both reside over the sites of decommissioned
Army National Guard Nike Ajax missile silos.
[3][4] This is where the High School recieved its nickname the Rockets.
Notable residents
★
Bill Russell, basketball legend
★ Clark Booth, TV personality, lived and raised his children in Reading. A graduate of The College of Holy Cross, he was a sports commentator and special projects commentator for WCVB, Channel 5.
★ Joshua Eaton, farmer, who died in the Revolutionary War, at the Battle of Saratoga, lived his entire civilian life in Reading.
★ Walter F. MacConaway, biographer of explorer James Michael Prescott
★
Mark Erelli, folk musician
★
JoAnne McGee, actress
★ Gary Lapierre, well-known radio personality, lived in Reading for years. His voice is recognized by most individuals living in the WBZ radio (1030) listening area.
★
Moses Nichols, officer during the
American Revolutionary War
★
Eddie Peabody,
banjo player
★
Brad Whitford, who replaced
Ray Tabano (aka Crazy Raymond) as the second guitarist of
Aerosmith
★
Lennie Merullo, a professional baseball player who played for the Chicago Cubs starting in 1941. He was a professional baseball scout for major league baseball for years.
See also
★
List of Registered Historic Places in Reading, Massachusetts
External links
★
Town of Reading website
★
Reading Public Library
★
Reading Public School System
★
Reading Neighborhood Website
★
Reading Community Bulletin Board
★
Reading Community Television
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