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History · Reading

Reading’s post office opened in 1870, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bhall87 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Reading began

When was Reading founded?

1870

The Reading post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 120 in 18802020 census: 181156 years
Founding year: the first Reading post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Reading’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Reading are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1983. Watch Reading change.Boom and bustPeaked at 358 in 1920; 181 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Reading’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Reading’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Reading on the map, 1889 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Reading. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Reading on the 1889 USGS mapReading on the 1894 USGS mapReading on the 1971 USGS mapReading on the 1983 USGS map1889Burlingame sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Reading.

People over time

Reading, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 358

Peaked at 358 in 1920; 181 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Reading’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Reading came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Reading.

Read it all →

In 1863, by Act of Congress and similarly by an act of the State of Kansas, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was granted 3,000,000 acres of Kansas land on the condition that it would build a continuous line to the western border of Kansas by March 1, 1873. On Oct. 30, 1868, construction began at Topeka. By Sept. 14, 1870, the first Santa Fe train reached Emporia, fifteen miles past the present site of Reading. James Fagan, agent for the railroad lands, and T. J. Peter and M. S. Sargent, who represented the railroad interest, organized a town company, with James Fagan as president. The land was owned by McMann & Co., of Reading, Pennsylvania. The town was platted on sixty acres of Section 3, Township 18, Range 13, and called it Reading, after Reading, Pennsylvania. In summer 1870, the town site was surveyed.

Chapters2011 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Reading, 1870 to 1955

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Reading post office opens
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 358
  6. 1927Born hereBob Price is born here
  7. 1955Born hereJim Barnett is born here
By decade

Reading, decade by decade

Today4 recent
The old jail in Reading Kansas, Oct. 20122012The old jail in Reading Kansas, Oct. 2012Reading Kansas community center and grain elevator2012Reading Kansas community center and grain elevatorReading Bank & Post Office2009Reading Bank & Post OfficeKSMap-doton-Reading2004KSMap-doton-Reading
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Reading

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bob PriceAmerican politician · b. 1927
J
Jim BarnettAmerican politician · b. 1955

Questions about Reading’s history

What year was Reading founded?

The Reading post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.