Reading, Pennsylvania This article is about the town/city in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Reading, Pennsylvania .
Reading, Pennsylvania View of Reading region from Downtown Reading Pagoda at Reading Art Clockwise from top left: View of Reading from Mount Penn, downtown Reading, Art Museum, and Pagoda Reading's locale in Berks County Reading's locale in Berks County Reading is positioned in Pennsylvania Reading - Reading Named for Reading, Berkshire City 10.1 sq mi (26.2 km2) Reading (/ r d e/ red-ing) (Pennsylvania German: Reddin), is the governmental center of county of Berks County and with a populace of 98,976 is the fifth-largest town/city in Pennsylvania. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, it is the principal town/city of the Greater Reading Area.
The city, approximately halfway between Philadelphia and the state capital at Harrisburg, is strategically situated along a primary transportation route from Central to Eastern Pennsylvania, and lent its name to the now-defunct Reading Railroad, which transported anthracite coal from the Pennsylvania Coal Region to the easterly United States via the Port of Philadelphia.
Reading Railroad is one of the four barns properties in the classic United States version of the Monopoly board game.
Reading was one of the first localities where supply shopping became a tourist industry.
Currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading region home.
According to the 2010 census, Reading has the highest share of people living in poverty in the nation. In recent years, the Reading region has turn into a destination for cyclists.
With more than 125 miles of trails in five primary preserves, it is an International Mountain Bicycling Association Ride Center and it annually hosts the Reading 120 global road cycling race. In April 2017, it was announced that an indoor velodrome, or cycling track, will be assembled in Reading as the first of its kind on the East Coast and only the second in the entire country.
17 Further reading The 500-block of Court Street in Downtown Reading, with Berks County courthouse on the left.
Reading and its suburbs, 1955.
Lenni Lenape citizens , also known as "Delaware Indians", were the initial inhabitants of the Reading area.
In 1743, Richard and Thomas Penn (sons of William Penn) mapped out the town of Reading with Conrad Weiser.
Taking its name from Reading, Berkshire, England, the town was established in 1748.
Upon the creation of Berks County in 1752, Reading became the county seat.
The first Amish improve in the New World was established in Greater Reading, Berks County. The Pennsylvanian German dialect was spoken in the region well into the 1950s and later.
During the French and Indian War, Reading was a military base for a chain of forts along the Blue Mountain.
During the early reconstructionof the conflict, Reading was again a depot for military supply.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the capital of the United States at the time of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. President Washington traveled to Reading, and considered making it the emergency nationwide capital, but chose Germantown instead.
Susanna Cox was tried and convicted for infanticide in Reading in 1809.
Enumeration data showed that, from 1810 to 1950, Reading was among the nation's top one hundred biggest urban places.
The Schuylkill Canal, a north-south canal instead of in 1825, alongsideed the Schuylkill River and connected Reading with Philadelphia and the Delaware River.
The Union Canal, an east-west canal instead of in 1828, connected the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers, and ran from Reading to Middletown, Pennsylvania, a several miles south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (P&R) was incorporated in 1833.
During the Long Depression following the Panic of 1873, a statewide barns strike in 1877 over delayed wages led to a violent protest and clash with the National Guard in which six Reading men were killed. Following more than a century of prosperity, the Reading Company was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 1971.
On April 1, 1976, the Reading Company sold its current barns interests to the newly formed Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail).
Reading experienced continuous expansion until the 1930s, when its populace reached nearly 120,000.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, however, the town/city saw a sharp downturn in prosperity, largely owing to the diminish of the heavy trade and barns s, on which Reading had been built, and a nationwide trend of urban decline.
In 1972, Hurricane Agnes caused extensive flooding in the city, not the last time the lower precincts of Reading were inundated by the Schuylkill River.
The 2000 census showed that Reading's populace decline had ceased.
This was attributed to an influx of Hispanic inhabitants from New York City, as well as from the extension of suburban sprawl from Philadelphia's northwest suburbs.
Reading has its share of obstacles to overcome, namely crime. However, new crime fighting strategies appear to have had an impact.
In 2006, the town/city dropped in the rankings of dangerous cities, and again in 2007.
In December 2007, NBC's Today show featured Reading as one of the top four "Up and Coming Neighborhoods" in the United States as showing potential for a real estate boom. The interviewee, Barbara Corcoran, chose the town/city by looking for areas of big change, renovations, cleanups of parks, waterfronts, and warehouses.
Corcoran also noted Reading's adjacency to Philadelphia, New York, and other cities.
Reading, Pennsylvania The climate in and around Reading is variable, but mostly mild.
The Reading region is considered a humid subtropical climate, with areas just to the north designated as a humid continental climate.
Reading becomes milder in the autumn, as the heat and humidity of summer relent to lower humidity and temperatures.
Snow is common in some winters, but the harsher winter conditions experienced to the north and west are not typical of Greater Reading.
Climate data for Reading, Pennsylvania Reading is positioned at 40 20 30 N 75 55 35 W (40.341692, 75.926301) in southeastern Pennsylvania, roughly 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Philadelphia.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 10.1 square miles (26 km2).
The Reading Prong, the mountain formation stretching north into New Jersey, has come to be associated with naturally occurring radon gas; however, homes in Reading are not especially affected.
Companies based in Reading and encircling communities include Boscov's, Carpenter, GK Elite Sportswear, Penske Truck Leasing, and Redner's Markets.
In 2012, The New York Times called Reading "the nation's poorest city." According to the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the biggest employers in the Berks county region are 1 Reading Hospital 6,878 5 Reading School District 1,903 Jump Start Incubator, a program of Berks County Community Foundation and the Kutztown University Small Business Development Center, is intended to help company doers open new businesses in the area. BARTA bus in downtown Reading.
Public transit in Reading and its encircling communities has been provided since 1973 by BARTA, the Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority.
BARTA operates a fleet of 52 buses serving 19 routes, mostly originating at the BARTA Transportation Center in Downtown Reading.
The former Reading Railroad Franklin Street Station was refurbished and reopened to bus service on September 9, 2013 with buses running the express route back and forth to Lebanon Transit.
A number of federal and state highways allow entry to and egress from Reading.
Reading and the encircling area is serviced by the Reading Regional Airport, a general aviation airfield.
The three-letter airport code for Reading is RDG.
Scheduled commercial airline service to Reading ended in 2004, when the last airline, USAir stopped flying into Reading.
Reading Franklin Street Terminal Passenger trains ran between Pottsville, Reading, Pottstown and Philadelphia until July 27, 1981, when transit operator SEPTA curtailed commuter service to electrified lines.
In the late 1990s and up to 2003, SEPTA, in cooperation with Reading-based BARTA, funded a study called the Schuylkill Valley Metro which encompassed plans to extend both sides of SEPTA's R6 passenger line to Pottstown, Reading, and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
As of the 2010 census, the town/city was 48.4% White, 13.2% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian, and 6.1% were two or more competitions.
As of the American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Reading had a populace of 80,997.
Reading's unemployment rate in May 2010 was 14.7%, while Berks County's unemployment rate was 9.9%. East Reading 2.230 sq.
The Reading Fire Museum Main article: Reading Fire Department The town/city of Reading is protected by the 135 firefighters and paramedics of the Reading Fire and EMS Department (RFD).
Reading High School The Reading School District provides elementary and middle schools for the city's children.
Press reports have pointed out that in 2012, about eight percent of Reading's inhabitants have a college degree, compared to a nationwide average of 28%. Four establishments of higher learning are positioned in Reading: Reading Area Community College Reading High School (Grades 10 12) Reading Intermediate High School (Grades 8 9) Reading is known for the Reading Fightin Phils, minor league partner of the Philadelphia Phillies, who play at First - Energy Stadium.
Among these native to Reading are Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Carl Furillo, Baltimore Colts running back Lenny Moore, and Philadelphia 76ers forward Donyell Marshall.
Pro golfer Betsy King, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was born in Reading.
The open-wheel racing portion of Penske Racing had been based in Reading, Pennsylvania since 1973 with the cars, amid the F1 and CART era, being constructed in Poole, Dorset, England as well as being the base for the F1 team.
Penske Truck Leasing is still based in Reading.
Reading played host to a stop on the PGA Tour, the Reading Open, in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Reading Fightin Phils EL, Baseball First - Energy Stadium 1967 4 Reading Royals ECHL, Ice hockey Santander Arena 2001 1 Reading United AC USL, Soccer Don Thomas Stadium 1996 Reading Public Museum in 2011.
The city's cultural establishments include the Reading Symphony Orchestra and its education universal the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Reading Choral Society, Opus One: Berks Chamber Choir, the Goggle - Works Art Gallery, the Reading Public Museum and the Historical Society of Berks County.
Reading is the place of birth of graphic artist Jim Steranko, guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen, singer Taylor Swift, and most prominently, novelist and poet John Updike and the world-renowned poet Wallace Stevens.
Marching band composer and writer John Philip Sousa, the March King, died in Reading's Abraham Lincoln Hotel in 1932.
Artist Keith Haring was born in Reading.
Downtown Reading Reading is home to the 14-time world-champion drum and bugle corps, the Reading Buccaneers.
Reading was home to a several movie and theater palaces in the early 20th Century.
The mechanical ice cream scoop was invented in Reading by William Clewell in 1878.
The City of Reading and Reutlingen, Germany are sister metros/cities which participate in student exchanges.
Students from Reading High School can apply to turn into a part of the exchange and travel to Reutlingen for 2 weeks (Mid October to Early September) and in return host their German exchange student in the spring.
Reading is twinned with: Reading's Pagoda seen from Skyline Drive.
Another fixture in Reading's horizon is the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower, one mile from the Pagoda on Skyline Drive.
The Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company established in 1899, just outside Reading town/city limits, in West Reading and Wyomissing boroughs changed its name to Vanity Fair in 1911 and is now the primary clothing manufacturer VF Corp.
The book and movie Rabbit, Run and the other three novels of the Rabbit series by John Updike were set in fictionalized versions of Reading and close-by Shillington, called Brewer and Olinger in the order given.
Updike was born in Reading and lived in close-by Shillington until he was thirteen.
He also makes reference to the Brewer suburb of Mount Judge, equivalent to Mount Penn east of Reading.
Filmmakers Gary Adelstein, Costa Mantis, and Jerry Orr created Reading 1974: Portrait of a City; relying heavily on montage, the film is a cultural time capsule.
Main category: People from Reading, Pennsylvania George Warren Alexander (1829-1903), captain of the Reading Artillerists (1857-1861); second in command, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry (1861-1864); and founder of G.W.
Alexander & Co., a prosperous hat factory in Reading and West Reading John Philip Sousa (1854 1932), iconic composer, died in Reading "Reading (city) Quick - Facts from the US Enumeration Bureau".
"Enumeration Shows Reading, Berks expansion spurt".
"Reading, Pa., Knew It Was Poor.
"Reading (PA) Bronze-level | International Mountain Bicycling Association".
"Reading 120 | September 10, 2016".
"content.asp - Greater Reading's destination core : Greater Reading Convention and Visitors Bureau".
"City Crime Rankings by Population Group".
"Climate Statistics for Reading, Pennsylvania".
Greater Reading Economic Partnership.
"New Director Will Lead Reading's Jump Start Incubator".
Bctv.org - Local news about Berks County and Reading, Pa.
United States Enumeration Bureau.
"Reading (city) Quick Facts from the US Enumeration Bureau".
"Berks County, Reading unemployment rates rise in May bctv.org Local news about Berks County and Reading, Pa.: Special Reports".
Reading Eagle archive, Google News Archive, 1868 2000.
Hendrickson, Jr., The Socialists of Reading, Pennsylvanian and World War I: A Question of Loyalty," Pennsylvania History, vol.
Hendrickson, Jr., "The Socialist Administration in Reading, Pennsylvania, Part I, 1927 1931," Pennsylvania History, vol.
Hendrickson, Jr., "Triumph and Disaster: The Reading Socialists in Power and Decline, Part II, 1932 1939," Pennsylvania History, vol.
Stetler, The Socialist Movement in Reading, Pennsylvania, 1896 1936.
Reading, Pennsylvania City of Reading (official site) Reading at DMOZ Reading Eagle Newspaper homepage, www.readingeagle.com/ Brookings Institution Report on recommendations for revitalization of metros/cities in Pennsylvania Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Reading, Pennsylvania Reading Public Library The Reading Area Fire Fighter's Museum Unofficial Reading Fire Department Site Photographs of Reading PA-183.svg Reading Regional Airport PA-61.svg Hamburg US 222.svg Allentown Reading Articles Relating to Reading, and Berks County, Pennsylvania
Categories:
Cities in Pennsylvania - Populated places established in 1743 - Reading, Pennsylvania - County seats in Pennsylvania - Early American industrialized centers - Cities in Berks County, Pennsylvania - 1743 establishments in Pennsylvania - Populated places on the Schuylkill River
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