Reading Massachusetts

The area has been inhabited by indigenous people for over 10,000 years. Reading’s contemporary history dates to the Massachusetts Bay Colony when it was founded in 1644 after separating from Lynn. It takes its name from the town of Reading in England. By 1667, the community, including what is now known as Reading, Wakefield, and North Reading, boasted 59 houses. A garrison house was built against Indian attacks in 1671. In 1686, settlers between Lynn and North Reading purchased the lands where they were living from a member of the Naumkeag tribe.

The Parker Tavern is a historic house museum at 103 Washington Street. Built in 1694, it is the oldest surviving structure in Reading. The saltbox was built by Abraham Bryant, a farmer and blacksmith, and Ephraim Parker operated a tavern on the premises in the 18th century. It has been a local history museum since 1923 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Several early Reading residents served in the Battle of Lexington and Concord at the start of the American Revolutionary War. The Parker Tavern hosted Colonel Archibald Campbell, whose regiment had been captured aboard ship in Boston Harbor in 1776, as a prisoner of war. Campbell remained at the tavern until 1778, when he was exchanged for Ethan Allen. Reading resident Joshua Eaton died in the Battle of Saratoga.

Originally a farming community, in the 18th century it became an industrial hub of companies making cabinets, clocks, organ pipes and shoes. Much of this growth can be traced to the building of the Andover-Medford Turnpike (now Main Street/Rt 28) in 1806-7 and the rail line to Boston established in 1845.

It later it became a bustling suburban community supported by the building of interstate highways Rt 93 to New Hampshire and the Rt 95/128 “Technology Highway” circling Boston in the 1950s and 60s. More recently, it has served as headquarters to major companies like Addison Wesley Publishing and Keurig (both now purchased/relocated to other towns).

Many of the town’s historic buildings, such as the Reading Depot (built in 1870) and the First Congregational Church (the present-day incarnation of the original 1600’s Meeting House) are still standing today, reflecting its deep historical roots.

Learn more about early Reading history

Demographics