Please tell me about Reading, Kansas (Topeka, Emporia: houses, rental, high school)

[erictlozek]

Hi,
I'm a journalist for The Reading Chronicle, a paper in Reading, England and I'm writing an article about places around the world called Reading.
Turns out there are many, including a small town in Kansas.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been there, lives there, or even heard about it once.
What's it's like? How big is it? What do people do there? Why is it called Reading?
I'd love to hear from anyone who knows the answers to these questions and can give me some "colour" about this town.
Thanks.

[BartA]

I lived in the area for a short time. Drove through the town only one time. It's much like many other small, dying towns in Kansas: Quiet, no main street to speak of, surrounded by pasture and farmland. Not much help, but it's a start.

[Gurdy54]

Just a few tidbits of Reading, KS. First, almost my entire family lived or has lived in Reading, KS. My great grandfather and his brothers built the catholic church in Reading and farmed the land. My aunt was the postmaster. When I was a young girl we lived there for a short time and our house was two doors down from my grandmother.

It used to be a pretty little farming town with many establishments. I remember the main street had Reading Bank, a notions/fabric store, two restaurants (one which was owned and run by my grandmother in the past). There was a "general" store which had galvonized tubs, farm tools, seeds, etc. The grocery store was across the street next to the other restaurant and some kind of store that had knick/knacks and another bank. One of the restaurants had booths with individual juke boxes (a small box that you put money into and picked what music you wanted to listen to). There was a post office somewhere in between those buildings. There was also an elementary school and a high school of which my cousins and some friends attended and graduated. One graduate is now a physician in nearby Emporia.

Along with the Catholic church there was a Methodist church. There are two cemetaries one which Catholic that seems to be filled with my relatives of days gone by. (May they rest in peace) My aunt and uncle owned the only gas station in town and it was in their front yard! He sold penny candy in jars inside. After about 1964 they moved the station to the highway that came into town but not through main street. {I sometimes wondered if that's what caused Reading to go down.}

There was a large park which was named after my uncle and many cute little houses. I would guess the population of Reading proper in the late 1960s would have been maybe 800 people. There were many farms whose families came into Reading for Reading Days which was a street party with a little carnival, food and all sorts of things (I can't remember all of them but remember the freedom of being able to wonder around freely without parental supervision! yea!).

I have fond memories of Reading and feel sad when I go back now. It's been two years since I've been there as most of my relatives have either died or moved and the Catholic church is no longer used as a church. The "first family" (my aunt and uncle) of Reading are gone and I do think they were instrumental in keeping Reading the viable little town it was back in the day.

I hope this helps you and that you have fun on your "Reading" journey. Happy Trails!

[woods]

Go to US Census Bureau website, Demographic Profiles, State of Kansas
look at Reading city, Kansas and Reading township, Lyon County, Kansas. This will give you a lot of information about our little city and surrounding area. Also a great article about our history past and present can be found at the Topeka Capital-Journal website www.cjonline.com. Kansas Plus Friday, October 12,2001 "Reading has its own resident artist". We were also the first Kansas town bombed during WWII... this is in the Kansas Plus issue also.

[readingcommunity]

I am a member of Reading Community Development, Inc., a non-profit group committed to making improvements in our town. Most recently, we have assisted in the renovation of an older home to become the town's only restaurant since July 2000. It is called the Miracle Cafe!

More later......CAK