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History · Port Reading

Port Reading’s post office opened in 1893, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1990.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Port Reading began

When was Port Reading founded?

1893

The Port Reading post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,977 in 19902020 census: 3,921133 years
Founding year: the first Port Reading post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Port 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 Port Reading are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Port Reading’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Port Reading’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Reading’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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The story

How Port Reading came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port Reading.

Read it all →

Port Reading was built in the late 19th century by the Reading Railroad of Pennsylvania to serve their shipping needs, especially coal from the Pennsylvania anthracite coal fields. In 1892 Port Reading was connected to the Reading Railroad system via a new branch line from Port Reading Junction near Bound Brook, New Jersey, known as the Port Reading Secondary. The Port Reading Refinery was located in the district.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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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On the map

Port Reading on the map, 1947 to 1981

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

Port Reading on the 1947 USGS mapPort Reading on the 1955 USGS mapPort Reading on the 1966 USGS mapPort Reading on the 1981 USGS map1947Arthur Kill sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Port Reading, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00020002020Peak: 3,977

Between 3,728 and 3,977 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Woodbridge Township3 historic placesB+CarteretIts storyCSewarenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAvenelIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Port Reading’s history

What year was Port Reading founded?

The Port Reading post office opened in 1893, 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 →
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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 Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.