The Town of North Reading is an outlying suburban town in Middlesex County,
lying entirely within the watershed of the Ipswich River. It was created
an independent town in 1853 and retains a number of simple and
well-preserved mid-18th century center-chimney vernacular houses with about
three houses dating back to 1730.
Original grants of large farmsteads along the river during the mid-17th
century brought six families to the settlement before 1680. The economy of
the town in the 17th and 18th century was based on subsistence farming with
limited hop production. There was a sawmill on Lob’s Pond by 1694 and
grist and saw mills at the village center by 1794. Some small scale boot
and shoe making was underway by 1820, and by 1850 small sheds or shops to
make shoes were attached to almost every house in town. These shops
produced cheap footwear that was sold south to clothe slaves, and the Civil
War destroyed the town’s industry. The principal products of the town in
the early 20th century were milk, apples and fruits.
The town center retains a Federal style meeting house and affluent Federal
village with a well-preserved district of period houses, and townspeople
are very proud of the fact that their town center retains its complete
historic fabric.
lying entirely within the watershed of the Ipswich River. It was created
an independent town in 1853 and retains a number of simple and
well-preserved mid-18th century center-chimney vernacular houses with about
three houses dating back to 1730.
Original grants of large farmsteads along the river during the mid-17th
century brought six families to the settlement before 1680. The economy of
the town in the 17th and 18th century was based on subsistence farming with
limited hop production. There was a sawmill on Lob’s Pond by 1694 and
grist and saw mills at the village center by 1794. Some small scale boot
and shoe making was underway by 1820, and by 1850 small sheds or shops to
make shoes were attached to almost every house in town. These shops
produced cheap footwear that was sold south to clothe slaves, and the Civil
War destroyed the town’s industry. The principal products of the town in
the early 20th century were milk, apples and fruits.
The town center retains a Federal style meeting house and affluent Federal
village with a well-preserved district of period houses, and townspeople
are very proud of the fact that their town center retains its complete
historic fabric.
