Reading Center, New York
30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Reading town. It lies in ZIP code area 14878. The Survey maps it on the Reading Center quadrangle. It stands 1,247 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1898 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 94 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 30 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1898 USGS Watkins Glen quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Watkins quadrangle1:62500, 10 printings
- 1905 USGS Watkins Glen quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1950 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Reading Center quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1965 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
71 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of Reading Center between 1992 and 2020, burning about 61 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 8 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 |
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 3 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 23 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 18 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 5 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 27 August 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 27 August 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 2 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 15 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Reading Center: 9 past producers, 3 plants, 3 producers. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Salt, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Bromine, Natural Gas. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Watkins Glen Well and Refinery | Bromine | Plant | Brine | |
| G.G.Hill Well | Salt, Natural Gas | Past Producer | ||
| Dunhams Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Haring Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lovers Lane Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Padua Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Padua Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| (Facility) Watkins Glen Refinery | Salt | Plant | ||
| International Salt Co.Well No.18 | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Salt Well | Salt | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Reading Center in 7 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2014 | Tornado (EF1) | Reading Center | $50,000 | An EF1 tornado producing winds speeds up to 105 MPH and a path length of 3.5 miles and a path width of 125 yards touched down near Altay Road at 434 PM EDT in the Town of Reading and tracked east snapping and uprooting many trees along it's path. The tornado blew a canoe 150 yards from a pond and wrapped it around a pole. There were numerous large splinters from trees and branches impaled in the ground. The tornado partially lifted a roof off of a house as it tracked into the woods. The home was severely damaged. The tornado continued east causing only tree damage before it lifted by Route 14. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Reading Center | $10,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds snapped power poles, knocking down powerlines. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Reading Center | $2,500 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down trees around town. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Reading Center | $2,000 | Water was flowing over Route 14A in Reading Center. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Reading Center | - | Multiple reports of large hail in the town of Reading. |
| May 2000 | Lightning | Reading Center | - | A lightning strike caused a small fire in the woods near CR 27. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Reading Center | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriels Junction | 1.7 miles | 30 | |
| Irelandville | 2.3 miles | 30 | |
| North Reading | 2.6 miles | 30 | |
| Burdett | 4.5 miles | 30 | |
| Watkins Glen | 4.7 miles | 30 | |
| Altay | 4.7 miles | 21 | |
| Townsend | 5.8 miles | 29 | |
| Hector | 5.8 miles | 23 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Reading Center | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q48740588 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 974164. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









