Editing Reading, Ohio (section)

==History==
In 1794, Abraham Voorhees moved his family from [[Somerset County, New Jersey]], building a large double log cabin along the west bank of the [[Mill Creek (Ohio)|Millcreek]] in [[Sycamore Township, Hamilton County, Ohio|Sycamore Township]], in present-day [[Lockland, Ohio|Lockland]]. In the spring of 1795, Harvey Redinbo, a [[Pennsylvania Dutch]]man, visited from [[Reading, Pennsylvania]]. Pleased with the land that Voorhees had acquired, Redinbo purchased his own land, in the area of Hunt Road and Columbia Avenue. Around 1798, Voorhees [[plat]]ted a town named Voorhees-Town but did not record it with county officials until January 7, 1804. By then, Redinbo had convinced him to rename the town to Reading, after Redinbo's hometown.<ref name="Nelson">{{cite book|title=History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio: Their Past and Present, Including...biographies and Portraits of Pioneers and Representative Citizens, etc.|volume=1|first=S. B.|last=Nelson|date=1894|accessdate=December 11, 2013|pages=448|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdUyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA448|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Reading set to celebrate centennial|first=Gina|last=Gentry-Fletcher|work=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |edition=Central|date=June 9, 1994|page=5 Extra|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28495372/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="Ford">{{cite book|title=History of Hamilton County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches|location=Cleveland|editor1-first=Henry A.|editor1-last=Ford|editor2-first=Kate B.|editor2-last=Ford|year=1881|pages=390, 393|hdl=2027/inu.30000047803998?urlappend=%3Bseq=522|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.30000047803998?urlappend=%3Bseq=522|via=HathiTrust}}</ref>

Between 1830 and 1880, Reading grew rapidly to become the largest village in Hamilton County. It was incorporated as a village on March 24, 1851. The village's major industry was clothing manufacturing.<ref name="Nelson" /><ref name="Ford" /><ref>{{cite book|chapter=A history of Reading|first=Charles|last=Gertz|title=Reading centennial souvenir: City of Reading, Ohio, founded 1797, incorporated 1851|publisher=Schulte & Cappel|date=1951|page=31|oclc=1084277189 |url=http://classic.cincinnatilibrary.org/record=b3421962~S1|via=Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County}}</ref>

[[File:Benson Street Concrete Bowstring Bridge in color.jpg|thumb|left|Benson Street Bridge]]

The Benson Street Bridge, built in 1901, spans [[Mill Creek (Ohio)|Mill Creek]] on the city limit with [[Lockland, Ohio|Lockland]]. It was the second concrete [[Tied-arch bridge|rainbow arch bridge]] and the first in Ohio.<ref>{{cite news|title=Benson Street Bridge: A neighborly connection|first=Randy|last=McNutt|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=January 20, 2004|page=G8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28104782/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Welcome sign reminded 'friends' not to fight|first=John|last=Eckberg|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|edition=Central|date=May 12, 1994|page=2 Extra|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28124489/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

As of 1912, Reading was a [[sundown town]]. African Americans were prohibited from living within the city or remaining there after dark.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fear Crowd As Suspect Faces Girls|edition=home|work=[[The Cincinnati Post]]|publisher=Scripps-Howard Newspapers|volume=70|issue=5|date=July 5, 1912|page=1|via=NewsBank|quote=Negroes are not allowed to live in Reading or stay there after dark and the attack stirred residents to greater indignation than that aroused by several other attacks in the same locality.}}</ref> Most censuses from 1860 through 1960 recorded no African Americans in Reading.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Population, 1870-1850, in each State and Territory, by Civil Divisions less than Counties, as White and Colored, and Native and Foreign|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-22.pdf#page=12|title=1870 Census|volume=1|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=232|chapter-format=PDF}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Native and Foreign Born and White and White and Colored Population, Classified by Sex, for Places Having 2,500 Inhabitants or More: 1900|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/volume-1/volume-1-p11.pdf#page=66|chapter-format=PDF|title=Twelfth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1900|volume=1|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=674}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Census of Population and Housing, 1910: Population—Ohio|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/36894832v3ch3.pdf#page=106|chapter-format=PDF|title=Thirteenth Census of the United States|volume=3|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=424}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Composition and Characteristics of the Population, for Places of 2,500 to 10,000: 1920|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084484v3ch07.pdf#page=25|chapter-format=PDF|title=Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920|volume=3|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=791}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Composition of the Population, for Incorporated Places of 2,500 to 10,000: 1930|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1930/population-volume-3/10612982v3p2ch05.pdf#page=43|chapter-format=PDF|title=1930 Census|volume=3|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=497}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Composition of the Population, for Incorporated Places of 2,500 to 10,000: 1940|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1940/population-volume-2/33973538v2p5ch6.pdf#page=122|chapter-format=PDF|title=1940 Census|volume=2|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=660}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=General Characteristics of the Population, for Urban Places of 2,500 to 10,000: 1950|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1950/population-volume-2/37783896v2p35ch3.pdf#page=79|chapter-format=PDF|title=1950 Census|volume=2|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=35{{hyphen}}127}}<br />{{cite book|chapter=Characteristics of the Population, for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Urbanized Areas, and Urban Places of 10,000 or More: 1960|chapter-url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/37749282v1p37_ch03.pdf#page=66|chapter-format=PDF|title=Census of Population: 1960|publisher=United States Census Bureau|page=37{{hyphen}}109}}</ref>

In 1903, the village council instituted a nightly [[curfew]] on youths under 16. A bell atop the town hall rang at the start of the curfew.<ref>{{cite news|title=Flowers and Music in Abundance Marked Installation of New Village Officials in Office|work=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|date=May 5, 1903|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer/167406142/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1943, the curfew was revised to start later in the evening.<ref>{{cite news|title=Old Curfew To Ring Again In Reading|work=[[The Cincinnati Post]]|date=May 5, 1943|page=18|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-post/167406359/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By 1971, the law remained on the books but was no longer being enforced.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reading adopts loitering ordinance, eyes curfew law|work=The Cincinnati Post|date=September 29, 1971|page=38|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-post/167406395/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Reading became a city on January 1, 1932.<ref>{{cite news|title=Two Villages Join The Ranks Of Cities|work=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|publisher=American Security and Trust Company|date=January 2, 1932|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28242528/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> It withdrew from [[Sycamore Township, Hamilton County, Ohio|Sycamore Township]] on May 19, 1943, forming a [[Paper township#Legal fictions|paper township]] named "Reading Township".<ref>{{cite news|title=Reading Has Permission For Separate Township|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|publisher=American Security and Trust Company|date=May 20, 1943|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28105675/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>