Reading

History

In 1794, Abraham Voorhees moved his family from Somerset County, New Jersey, building a large double log cabin along the west bank of the Millcreek in Sycamore Township, in present-day Lockland. In the spring of 1795, Harvey Redinbo, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, visited from Reading, Pennsylvania. Pleased with the land that Voorhees had acquired, Redinbo purchased his own land, in the area of Hunt Road and Columbia Avenue. Around 1798, Voorhees platted a town named Voorhees-Town but did not record it with county officials until January 7, 1804. By then, Redinbo had convinced him to rename the town to Reading, after Redinbo's hometown. Between 1830 and 1880, Reading grew rapidly to become the largest village in Hamilton County. It was incorporated as a village on March 24, 1851. The village's major industry was clothing manufacturing. The Benson Street Bridge, built in 1901, spans Mill Creek on the city limit with Lockland. It was the second concrete rainbow arch bridge and the first in Ohio. As of 1912, Reading was a sundown town. African Americans were prohibited from living within the city or remaining there after dark. Most censuses from 1860 through 1960 recorded no African Americans in Reading. In 1903, the village council instituted a nightly curfew on youths under 16. A bell atop the town hall rang at the start of the curfew. In 1943, the curfew was revised to start later in the evening. By 1971, the law remained on the books but was no longer being enforced. Reading became a city on January 1, 1932. It withdrew from Sycamore Township on May 19, 1943, forming a paper township named "Reading Township".

Geography

Reading is located at (39.222709, -84.439036). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Reading is bordered by Cincinnati's Roselawn neighborhood to the south, Amberley Village and Sycamore Township to the southeast, Blue Ash to the east, Evendale to the north, Lockland to the west, and Arlington Heights to the southwest. Mill Creek divides Reading from Lockland and Arlington Heights. Reading can be reached by car via Interstate 75, Ohio State Route 126, or U.S. Route 42. The northbound lanes of Mill Creek Expressway run along the city's west side, with exits onto Galbraith Road and Koehler Avenue. Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway has a complex interchange with Interstate 75 at Reading. Reading lies along Norfolk Southern Railway's Dayton District and the Indiana and Ohio Railway's Oasis Subdivision.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  37,583
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  33,726
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  30,160
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,378
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,240
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  23,716
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  23,363
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,898