The Reading Public Library owns books about Reading history which have been scanned and made available online through the efforts of the Internet Archive. Internet Archive, a non-profit organization founded in 1996, is building a digital library of books and media. The archive provides free access to materials, mostly published prior to the 1920s, in the public domain and can be used without restrictions.
The following are books that the Reading Public Library owns and are now available digitally. We are pleased to connect our users to searchable editions of these books that were originally published without Table of Contents and/or Index. The ability to search is through Optical Character Recognition which is good, but not infallible. Follow the full text link for the online edition.
Ancient Redding in Massachusetts bay colony; its planting as a Puritan village and sketches of its early settlers from 1639 to 1652, – by Loea Parker Howard, [Boston, Thomas Todd company, printers, 1944]
Church records of the old town of Reading, Mass. and of the First Parish of Reading and South Reading from 1648 to 1846 by First Church of Christ (Reading, Mass.) Reading (Mass.) : [s.n.] , 1934.
Concerning the past by Horace Greeley Wadlin, Reading, Mass. : Graphic Shoppe, 1994.
Early land grants and town bounds of the old Town of Reading, Massachusetts from 1639 to 1802 by J. W. Wightman, [Reading (Mass.) : [s.n.] , 1853?]
First Congregational Church in Reading, 1770-1945 : its history as found in ancient record and present memory by Edith Bancroft, Reading, Mass. : First Congregational Church, 1945.
The five meeting houses and early parsonages of the first parish of Old Reading, now Wakefield, Massachusetts (1937) – by William E. Eaton, Wakefield, Mass. : The Author, 1937.
The beginning of Reading and Lynnfield, Massachusetts by Loea Parker Howard, [Reading, Mass., Reading chronicle press, inc. ] 1937.
Early homesteads on Washington-High-Grove Street in Reading, Massachusetts by Loea Parker Howard, Concord (Mass.) : Author , 1946.
Genealogical history of the town of Reading, Mass. : including the present towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading, with chronological and historical sketches, from 1639 to 1874. by Lilley Eaton (published in 1874)
Historical address and poem delivered at the bi-centennial celebration of the incorporation of the old town of Reading, May 19, A.D., 1855: with an appendix – Boston : Printed by Samuel N. Dickinson, 1844.
History of the Richardson Light Guard, of Wakefield, Mass. 1901-1926 (1926)
– by William E. Eaton; Wakefield, Printed at the Citizen and Banner Office, 1901.
The military record of Reading men in the War of Independence (1934) – by Loea Parker Howard, [Reading (Mass.) , 1934]
Parker Tavern being an account of a most interesting house built by Abraham Bryant in 1694, together with some facts about early owners by Loea Parker Howard, Reading (Mass.) : Reading Antiquarian Society , 1930.
Proceedings of the 250th anniversary of the ancient town of Redding, once including the territory now comprising the towns of Reading, Wakefield, and North Reading : with historical chapters. edited by Chester W. Eaton, Warren E. Eaton ; compiled and arranged by Will Everett Eaton (published in 1896).
Reading men in the early colonial wars, by Loea Parker Howard, Reading, Mass : Printed by the Reading Chronicle Press, [1934]
Reading’s “Old Burial Ground” now in Wakefield, Massachusetts, 1688. by William E. Eaton. (published in 1935)
The story of Reading government, by Victor E. Pitkin, Reading, Mass: Reading Chronicle Press, 1940
Vital records of Reading, Massachusetts, to year 1850 – by Thomas Williams Baldwin (published in 1912).
Other Digitized Books about Reading in the Internet Archive
Historical sketch of the Baptist church in South Reading (1841) – by the South Reading (MA) Baptist Church; Boston, J. Howe, 1841.
History of the First Baptist Church in Wakefield, Mass., 1800-1900 (1901) compiled by N. R. Everts; Malden, Mass. : Printed by Geo. E. Dunbar, 1901.
Inscriptions from the most ancient burial ground in South Reading, 1644-1834 (1938) Wakefield, Mass., 1938.
Malden, Maplewood, Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham, Medford and West Medford : their representative business men and points of interest. (1893) New York : Mercantile Illustrating Co., 1893.