Our Town, Your Story

Item set

Title
Our Town, Your Story
Description
Who is the Town of Reading? We are all ages, backgrounds, histories, and perspectives – we all have our own story. All of Reading was invited to bring in photos to added to the collection. Participants also had the option to “tell the story” behind the photos on video.
Coverage
Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Reading
Contributor
Institution: Reading Public Library
Date
2019

Items

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  • A Welcoming Town
    Two days after we (The Carey’s) moved to Reading in August 2015, we got a welcome card in our mailbox from two of the little girls, Chloe and Sam, (our daughter Marlie’s age) who live down the street. You’ll notice they drew a map of the street to show where each house is so Marlie would know where to find them. We now have the card-drawing framed in our parlor.
  • Haven St. apartments
    Exterior view of upper floor apartments at 30 Haven
  • Deputy Chief
    Deputy police chief David Clark at his office in the police station
  • Daily News in the reading room
    Library patron Bill Brown with newspaper
  • Leaf raking
    DPW Leaf Raking Forest Glen Cemetery
  • DPW worker
    DPW worker directing leaf raking operation
  • Leaf raking
    DPW raking leaves at Forest Glen Cemetery
  • Countdown to kindergarten
    RPD visits storytime Police Officer Kristen O'Shaughnessy, Children's Librarian Olivia McElwain
  • Communications
    Desirée Zicko, Communications Specialist
  • Collections
    Jamie Penney, Head of Collection Services
  • Administrative assistant
    Kathryn Melesciuc, Library Adminstrative Assistant
  • Research and Reader Services
    Andrea Fiorillo, Head of Research and Reader Services
  • Library Admin
    Michelle Filleul, Assitant Library Director, Kathryn Melesciuc, Library Administrative Assistant
  • Shelving books
    Lisa Eng, Library Technician, shelving books
  • Teen Services
    Reference & Teen Services Librarians Susan Beauregard and Renée Smith
  • Zucca Italian Restaurant table setting
    Dining room picture of Zucca Italian Restaurant
  • Watching over the store
    P&S Convenient Store owner Gary's dog "Runner"
  • Auto shop repairmen
    Two mechanics at work
  • Auto shop repairs
    Robert from Kings Complete Auto Repair at Service Counter
  • Main Street apartments
    Entry way of the 625 Main St. apartment in Reading
  • Back alley businesses
    Display window of Aine's Boutique in the "Back Alley"
  • Apartment balconies in Reading
    General Washington Apartments balconies
  • Lincoln St. apartments
    Ongoing construction of the Lincoln St. apartments by the train depot
  • SM Hodson Oil Company
    Smith Oil Heating company location and trucks
  • Old Reading Post Office
    Old Reading Post Office prior to being turned into apartments
  • Portrait of runner
    P&S Convenient Store owner Gary's dog "Runner"
  • Main St. Methodist Church
    An evening view of Old South United Methodist Church
  • Memorial Park ice skating
    Skating and playing ice hockey
  • Playing basketball at Memorial Park
    Two teenagers playing basketball
  • Basketball at Memorial Park
    Two teenagers playing basketball at the park
  • Doorway of 49 High Street
    Entrance to the Last Corner Restaurant
  • Town Forest walkway
    The entrance way to the Reading Town Forest in early January
  • 86 Salem Street
    Photographer's home at 86 Salem Street
  • Browns Auto Repair
    An outside view of Browns Auto office near the train depot
  • Haven St. apartments
    Exterior view of upper floor apartments at 30 Haven
  • Green St.
    Houses located by the Rite Aid on Green St.
  • Dog walking in Memorial Park
    Walking a dog in Memorial Park
  • Mattera Cabin bench
    A sitting bench with a view of the forest at Mattera Cabin entrance area
  • Pleasant Street center
    Ruth Goldberg at the Pleasant Street Center
  • Reverend Samuel Whiting obelisk
    Contributor's brother took the picture of the memorial obelisk. In May (28th?) of 2011 some of the descendants of Rev. Samuel Whiting got together at the Western Burying Ground in Lynn to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the arrival of Rev. Whiting in the Lynn area. At the time (1636), the area was known as Saugust - but they changed the name to Lynn in honor of Rev. Whiting, because he had come from Kings Lynn in Norfolk, England. Attendees of the 2011 gathering included descendants, members of the Lynn Historical Commission, as well as the first church in Lynn, now the First Church of Christ in Lynn, Congregational. The territory that is now Reading was part of Lynn, so some of the original European residents of Reading in 1639 would have known Rev. Whiting.
  • 4 West Street looking towards Reading 2019
    Current view of 4 West street, showing the 93 overpass, note the Towle house no longer exists. Towle house was from the 1700's?
  • 4 West Street "new station"
    4 West Street MobilGas rebuilt in 1962 behind the original. At this time Hanson family house moved to 26 South Street ,which became 26 Border Road. Jay Leno bought his first car here in 1964 at age 14, a 1934 Ford Truck.
  • 4 West Street 1956
    4 West Street prior to Route 93 bridge, house is attached to station
  • 4 West Street 1946
    4 West Street prior to lube pit being covered by moving garage over it, a small office building moved closer to house, and connecting showroom between garage and office.
  • Sweetie in the window
    Photographer unknown, but almost certainly with contributor's camera (etc.). Carolyn Whiting [contributor] and Louis Ventola with Sweetie in the window. From Fall of 1993. Sweetie was Carolyn Whiting's brother's cat until Carolyn adopted her. The foundation of the house was probably built in 1917 (the water service line went in in 1917, and first appears in the town street list in 1917 as being on Park Street). Originally the house had no number on Park Street, but would become 7 Park Street. They then changed the name of the street, and the house address became 7 Chestnut Road. Between 1936 and 1937, they renumbered many of the houses in Reading, and this house became 17 Chestnut Road. As far as the contributor (Carolyn) knows, the house in the photograph was built in 1947, and so is a bit older than the contributor herself. Carolyn bought the house in January 1985. Carolyn changed the color of the trim from gray to purple and orchid. She painted the trim not knowing that Reading would be using the same colors (purple and white) to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the town. Louis came into Carolyn's life in 1992 and died of cancer in 2003.
  • Going for ice cream in the 1950s
    The Birmingham siblings (4 of 7 pictured here) going out for ice cream.
  • Birmingham family birthday party in the 1950s
    Birmingham family and friends in their backyard in Reading
  • Birmingham family photo
    King Street - this is a casual everyday family photo taken by Jeanne's mother, Virginia.
  • Rios family
    Easter Sunday at St. Athanasius
  • Rios family
    Town Forest walk
  • Learning to skate
    Eileen Barrett teaching Alexander to skate Mill Street, Ipswich River
  • 2008 MIAA Div 1A Super 8 champions - RMHS boys Ice hockey 2007-2008
    Team photo at the Boston Garden following the championship game. Back row: Erica Sanchez, trainer; Dave Huster, asst. coach; Mark Doherty, asst. coach, Charlie Driscoll, asst. coach; Jason Penkethman, manager Players: Ryan Tierney, Nick MacDonald, Eric McNeill, Geno D'Avolio, John-Michael Leach, Tyler Silvey, Brian McCabe, Brett Sweeney, Jon Kaine, Garrett Collins, Michael Shea, Michael Lozzi, Rob Toczylowski, Quinian Junta, Patrick Kiley, Travis Busch, Sean McGoldrick, Ryan Arsenault, Brett Lepore, Bill Cataldo, Devin Albert, Jeff Wyer, Matt Stratton
  • Time zone map
    The Millennium Party began at 5 AM on December 31, 1999, and ran for 24 hours. As each time zone reached the New Year, that part of the map lit up.
  • Hot Spot on Haven Street
    Hot Spot on Haven Street served as party headquarters for the Millennium Party. Hot Spot was owned by Anna "Ace" Foulds, and closed in June 2012. It was in business for 19 years.
  • Millennium party program
    Program for a town-wide party run at the end of the century. It was an offshoot of the 350th anniversary of the town 6 years earlier.
  • Souvenier button for millennium party December 31, 1999
    Souvenier button for Millennium Party December 31, 1999. Button sold as a souvenier for the Millennium Party it was also used as a fundraiser and used as an dmittance button to all downtown events.
  • Millennium tent on the Common
    A big tent on the common for the millennium party. This was the center of the celebration. The crowd watching the performances before midnight
  • 1999 /2000 New Year's confetti at Old South
    Midnight celebration on the Common as eastern time zone hit midnight we set off confetti to celebrate the new year.
  • Daily Times Chronicle news coverage 1/1/2000
    This is a composite photo of the newspaper's coverage of the Millenium
  • Millenium party Old South Church
    The party was fantastic, this photo shows the Clock Tower at Old South Church
  • Millenium party ice sculpture
    Party on the town common - ice sculptures were found around downtown - this may have been near the electric box on the common.
  • Future voters want you to vote yes for Reading
    "Francis Drive Five" outside of Killam School reminding eligible voters to vote Yes For Reading for town-wide schools.
  • Reading375 tavern at the tavern
    Larry Meuse and Peter Maguire (as the historical figure Dr. John Brooks) at Parker Tavern
  • Larry Meuse in third grade I got to help build the school.
    I [contributor] got to spend a week with him because I spent more time looking out the window than at a book.
  • Miss McDonald's Kindergarten Class
    Birch Meadow Kindergarten Class of 1997 / 1998 who were bused to a Barrows School portable classroom for the year, due to lack of space at Birch Meadow school. It was a difficult year for parents and kids.
  • RMHS Band pre-renovation
    One of the last times the RMHS band marched to the football field over the crest of Oakland Road. It was always a thrill to see them come up over the hill, as you would hear them before you would see them. After the high school renovation they no longer used this route.
  • Parker Tavern and sign
    This photo depicts the heart of Reading, and combines an image of the structure and informational sign
  • Reading town sign-winter
    In front of Clock Tower, after a snowstorm
  • Reading banner with flag
    Near Northern Bank on Haven Street. This was a tricky shot, in order to get the flag fully unfurled.