The Parker Tavern is a historic house museum in Reading, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1694, it is the oldest extant structure in Reading. The saltbox was built by Abraham Bryant, a farmer and blacksmith, and Ephraim Parker operated a tavern on the premises in the 18th century. It has been a local history museum since 1923, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Wisteria Lodge is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story Second Empire wood-frame house was built in 1850 by Oscar Foote, a local real estate developer entrepreneur who attempted to market bottled mineral water from nearby springs. The house has a mansard roof with fish scale slate shingles, bracketed eaves, an elaborate porte cochere, and styled window surrounds with triangular pediments. The porches and porte cochere are supported by square columns set on paneled piers, with arched molding between.
The Batchelder House is a historic house at 607 Pearl Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built about 1783, it is a good local example of Federal period architecture. It is also significant for its association with the locally prominent Batchelder family, and as an early shoemaking site. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Capt. Nathaniel Parker Red House is a historic house at 77–83 Ash Street in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a 2+1⁄2-story vernacular Georgian house, five bays wide, with entrances on its north and south facades. The southern entry is slightly more elegant, with flanking pilasters and a transom window. The house was built sometime before 1755, and was already a well-known landmark because it was painted, and served as a tavern on the coach road. The Tavern served as a meeting place for many revolutionaries and minute men, notably Marquis de Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton. The house remained in the hands of militia captain Nathaniel Parker and his descendants into the late 19th century. The construction of the Andover Turnpike in 1806–07, bypassing its location, prompted a decline in the tavern's business.
The Carroll–Hartshorn House is a historic First Period house at 572 Haverhill Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built c. 1700, it is one of the oldest buildings in Reading, set on an early route between Wakefield and Haverhill. It has a classic two-story, five-bay, central-chimney plan, with a rear shed extension giving the house a saltbox appearance. Its windows, some still with original surrounds, are narrower and taller than typical for the period. The property was owned by generations of the Hartshorn family.
The Charles Manning House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house, three bays wide, with a front-facing gable roof, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation. Built c. 1850, it has well-preserved Greek Revival details. It has a typical three-bay side-hall plan, with corner pilasters and a main entry surround consisting of long sidelight windows framed by pilasters and topped by an entablature. The windows are topped by shallow pedimented lintels. Charles Manning was a longtime Reading resident and part of its woodworking community, building parlor desks. Reading's Manning Street is named for him.
The George Batchelder House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in 1825, it is a prominent local example of Federal period architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It currently houses professional offices.
The Gilman Coggin House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house is a fine well preserved local example of Greek Revival architecture. It was built in 1847 by Gilman Coggin, owner of a local shoe-manufacturing business. The house's front gable is fully pedimented, supported by wide corner pilasters. A single-story wraparound porch has square Ionic columns, and the front door surround is flanked by half-length sidelight windows and topped by a fanlight transom.
26 Center Avenue in Reading, Massachusetts is an architecturally eclectic cottage, with a mix of Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, and Italianate features. Built c. 1854–1875, it is a rare surviving remnant of a residential subdivision once dubbed "Mudville" for the condition of its unpaved roads. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Joseph Bancroft House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1830s, it is a prominent local example of Federal period architecture. It was built for a member of the locally prominent Bancroft family, who inherited a large tract of land in the area. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Joseph Damon House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built about 1754, this 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house is good local example of a Georgian colonial house with later Federal period alterations. It also demonstrates a typical pattern of shared ownership by multiple descendants of one of its owners. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Joseph Temple House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. The Second Empire wood-frame house was built in 1872 by Joseph Temple, owner of locally prominent necktie manufacturer. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Kemp Place and Barn form a historic farmstead in Reading, Massachusetts. The main house is a 2+1⁄2-story Italianate wood-frame structure, with an L-shaped cross-gable footprint and clapboard siding. Its roofline is studded with paired brackets, its windows have "eared" or shouldered hoods, and there is a round-arch window in the front gable end. The porch wraps around the front to the side, supported by Gothic style pierced-panel posts. The square cupola has banks of three round-arch windows on each side. It is one of Reading's more elaborate Italianate houses, and is one of the few of the period whose cupola has survived.
The Luther Elliott House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. The modestly sized 1.5-story wood-frame house was built in 1850 by Luther Elliott, a local cabinetmaker who developed an innovative method of sawing wood veneers. The house has numerous well preserved Greek Revival features, including corner pilasters, and a front door surrounded with sidelight windows and pilasters supporting a tall entablature.
The Pearl Street School is a historic school building at 75 Pearl Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in 1939, the two-story brick and limestone building is Reading's only structure built as part of a Public Works Administration project. The site on which it was built was acquired by the town sometime before 1848, and served as its poor farm. With fifteen classrooms, the school replaced three smaller wood-frame schoolhouses in the town's school system, and was its first fire-resistant structure.
The former Reading Municipal Building is a historic building at 49 Pleasant Street in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in 1885, this two-story brick building was the town's first municipal structure, housing the town offices, jail, and fire station. In 1918 all functions except fire services moved out of the building. It now serves as Reading's Pleasant Street Senior Center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Samuel Bancroft House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. With an estimated construction date of 1748, it is one of the town's older surviving houses, and one of a small number from the late colonial period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Stillman Parker House is a historic house at 484 Summer Avenue in Reading, Massachusetts. Probably built in the 1850s, it is a rare local variant of transitional Federal/Greek Revival styling. The 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame house has a high-pitched roof which extends over the front porch, which is supported by fluted Doric columns. The doors and windows have Greek Revival architrave surrounds. The house belonged to Stillman Parker, a local shoe manufacturer who also served on the town's board of selectmen.
The Stillman Pratt House is a historic house at 472 Summer Avenue in Reading, Massachusetts. The 1+1⁄2-story wood-frame house, probably built in the late 1840s, is a rare local variant of a combined Federal-Greek Revival style house. It follows the Federal style of placing the roof gables at the sides, but its roof extends over the front porch, which is supported by four fluted Doric columns. The house's corner pilasters are decorated with the Greek key motif, and its windows and doors have architrave surrounds with corner blocks.
The Parker House is a historic house at 52 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a 2+1⁄2-story vernacular Federal-style wood-frame house, five bays wide, with a side gable roof, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation. Its center entrance is particularly fine, with tall sidelight windows flanked by pilasters, and topped by an entablature with a shallow hood. The house was built in 1792, although its center chimney may date from an older house built on the site in 1715. Jonas Parker, the builder, was active in the American Revolution. A portion of Parker's farm was dedicated as Memorial Park in 1919.
