Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1820.
Reading dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Reading is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Reading’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Reading’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Reading. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Reading.
Reading had its own post office from 1816 to 1883. Another post office, North Reading, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Reading.
The first pioneers arrived circa 1798, while the first tavern opened in 1801.
The town was formed from the Town of Wayne in 1806 while still part of Steuben County. Part of Reading was used to form the Town of Starkey (now in Yates County) in 1824. Reading became part of Steuben County's contribution to the newly formed Schuyler County in 1854.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMary Wicks is born here
In the archiveReading (Township)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Reading’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,106 and 3,062 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Reading’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1806, according to Wikidata. Reading’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1820 counted 3,062 people here.
Reading is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
22% of Reading’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.
1874
2009