Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Reading, Massachusetts

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Reading town. It lies in ZIP code area 01867. It stands on Monk Island. The Survey maps it on the Reading quadrangle. 25,518 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 128 feet above sea level.

Reading within Middlesex County

Population over time

2 figures

Reading grew from 24,747 to 25,518 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	24,747
2020	25,518	+771 (+3%)

Then and now

1886 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 102 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Reading, surveyed 1988

Topographic sheet of Reading, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

40 sheets

Matched 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.

In the county-history sources

25,487 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Reading Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

HE town of Reading, which formerly included the present towns of Reading, Wakefield, and North Reading, was once the domain and hunting-ground of the Saugus tribe of Indians. They cultivated the lands bordering upon the Great Pond (now Lake Quaiiapowitt), and the proofs of their residence n ni the numerous implements of stone n the vicinity.^ The colonial records show that in September, 1639, the inhabitants of Lymi petitioned " for a place for an inland plantation at the head of their bounds." A tract of land four miles square was granted, with the condition " that the petitioners shall, within two years, make some good proceeding in planting, so as it may be a village fit to contain a convenient number of inhabitants, which may, in due time, have a cliurch there."

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

In 1640 the court ordered that "Lynn Village," the name first given to the new settlement, should be exempted from taxes " as soon as seven houses be built and seven families settled." The town was incorporated May 29, 1644', by the name of " Redding," in honor of Reading in England, whence, it is said, some of the first settlers of Lynn Village came. The four miles square included nearly the same territory now constituting Reading and Wakefield. The first settlements were made near the southern part of the Great Pond. The names of the earliest settlers are in doubt, the first records of Lynn and Reading being imperfect. It is believed that the following nanred persons, with their families, were residents about the time of incorporation : Nicholas Brown, Tiiomas Clark, Jolm Damon, William Cowdrey, George Davis, Robert and Samuel Dunton, Josiali Dustin, Jonas Eaton, William Eaton, Zachariah Fitch, Isaac

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

The earliest entry in the records of this town is dated the 6tli of the eleventli month, 1644, when land was given John Poole. An agreement was made with him to build a water-mill for the use of the town. lie was to keep it in repair at his own expense, and attend to grinding corn two or three days of the week unless more days were required. The town gave him control of the river and such land as should be needful for tlie mill. It agreed neither to set up, nor to allow to be set up, any other mill within the bounds of Reading to hinder the custom of said mill, so long as said Poole, his heirs, etc., should well and sufficiently grind for the town's use. The mill was built near the present site of the Rattan Works in Wakefield.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Reading Town - it names this place 56 more 56 times.

Fires near this place

53 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Reading between 2003 and 2020, burning about 24 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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
Debris and open burning	15
Recreation and ceremony	12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	11
Misuse of fire by a minor	4
Arson/incendiarism	3
Equipment and vehicle use	3
Smoking	3
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2

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
25 September 2015	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	SAUGUS
23 September 2020	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
15 September 2016	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	LYNNFIELD
4 August 2015	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	AMESBURY
31 August 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
30 August 2016	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	LYNNFIELD
26 August 2017	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
20 August 2017	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	WINCHESTER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 882 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 882 specimens collected within 10 miles of Reading between 1898 and 1975: 381 Animalia, 357 Plantae, 122 Fungi, 9 Bacteria, 6 Unrecorded, 4 Chromista, 3 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Trientalis borealis Raf.	1900	A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.	1898	Collector unspecified
Cantharellus infundibuliformis (Scop.) Fr.	1898	not recorded	Melrose.
Cladonia rangiferina (L.) Weber	1898	Francis P Daniels	Arlington Heights
Cordyceps capitata (Holmsk.) Link	1898	Conant, [?] F.	Middlesex Fells
Ctenidium malacodes Mitt.	1898	not recorded
Cucurbitaria elongata (Fr.) Grev.	1898	J. G. Hall
Aphanochaete repens A.Braun	1900	F. S. Collins	Middlesex Fells, Wright's Pond, on Oedogonium, etc.
Batrachospermum gelatinosum (L.) DC.	1900	F. S. Collins	on stones in stream
Batrachospermum moniliforme Sirodot	1900	F. S. Collins	on stones in stream
Betula alleghaniensis Britton	1900	E. F. Williams
Bremia lactucae Regel	1900	Seymour, A. B.	Belmont

All 882 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 17 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Reading: 9 past producers, 5 producers, 2 plants, 1 unknown. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Iron, Titanium, Metal. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Austin Hastings--Woburn, Ma.	Iron	Plant
Ferro Ceramic Grinding--Wakefield	Silica	Plant
Heffron Asphalt Co--Wilmington, Ma.	Titanium	Past Producer
Heffron Asphalt Corp	Titanium, Metal	Past Producer
Marlborough Plant/Polishing Plates	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
North Wilmington Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Richardson Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Roma Stone Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Warren Manter Co Inc	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Acme Concrete Co. Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

18 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Reading in 18 storm reports between 2001 and 2024: 15 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 flood. 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
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$15,000	no account filed
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$15,000	no account filed
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$10,000	A tree and wires on Route 162 were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$5,000	In Reading, there was a tree down on a car in the area of Kingston St.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$5,000	A tree on North Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$5,000	no account filed
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$3,000	Trees and wires on Pearl and Highland Streets were downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$2,000	A large limb was downed by thunderstorm winds, blocking the intersection of Main Street and Forest Glen.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	North Reading	$1,000	At 118 PM EST, a tree was down across Haverhill Street in North Reading.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$1,000	A large branch was downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$1,000	A one to two foot diameter limb on Ash Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$1,000	A large tree was downed onto wires by thunderstorm winds.
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	$1,000	Trees and wires on West Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2020	Flood	North Reading	-	In North Reading, Marshall Street at Parker Drive was impassable due to flooding.
March 2012	Hail	North Reading	-	no account filed
August 2011	Hail	Reading	-	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	-	no account filed
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Reading	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Middlesex County

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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Reading Highlands	0.9 miles	40
Wakefield	1.8 miles	40
Farm Hill	2.2 miles	46
Montrose	2.3 miles	40
Wakefield Junction	2.4 miles	46
Walnut Hill	2.7 miles	46
Mishawum	2.9 miles	41
West Village	3.0 miles	40

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	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2318684	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 612808. 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.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

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.