Common Historic District

Reading's Common and the streets around it form an inverted triangle of about 30 acres, cut by Main Street (Route 28). The Common was held communally by 1737, and a burial ground lay to its north. A meetinghouse was built nearby in 1769, and a Federal-style church followed in 1817. That church burned in 1911 and was rebuilt in 1913 as a replica, using measured drawings by architect Winthrop Parker. Over time the area gathered schools, churches, stores and houses. Commercial activity grew after the Boston and Andover Turnpike opened in 1806. In the early 20th century the high school (1906), Town Hall and Public Library (both 1917-18), the First Congregational Church (1911) and the Christian Science church (1913-14) were added, all in historical styles. Greek Revival and other 19th-century houses line the edges, and Laurel Hill Cemetery, dating from 1737, marks the northern boundary. The district was listed for its role as the town's civic and institutional heart and for the quality of its architecture.