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History · Reading Township

69% of Reading Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on.

0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Reading Township’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 Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch Reading Township change.Old housesHalf of Reading Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Reading Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Reading Township on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Reading Township on the 1899 USGS mapReading Township on the 1965 USGS mapReading Township on the 1985 USGS map1899David City 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 Township.

The story so far

Reading Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Reading Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Reading Township is one of seventeen townships in Butler County, Nebraska, United States. Its population was 504 at the 2020 census, with a 2021 estimate increasing it to 506. The Village of Rising City is located within the township.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 521 in 2010, 513 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Reading Township

Nobody well known was born in Reading Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Lucas CruikshankAmerican actor · b. 1993
Coleen GrayAmerican actress · b. 1922
Ruth EttingAmerican singer, vaudevillian, musical theatre … · b. 1896
Jim PillenGovernor of Nebraska since 2023 · b. 1955
B
Brad William HenkeAmerican actor and football player · b. 1966
John ArcherAmerican actor · b. 1915
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Reading Township
Circle MoundFairviewRising Sun

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Summit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRead Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Reading Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.