READING, Mich. (WTVG) – Welcome to Reading! This community in western Hillsdale County was established as a village in 1873, then became a city in 1934. This town of about 1,000 people derives its name from a much larger city in southeastern Pennsylvania.
“It was originally named after Reading [RED-ing] Pennsylvania. At some point in time, that turned into Reading [READ-ing]. We don’t know when,” explained Chad Penney, the Mayor of Reading. “It was often referred to as Basswood Corners. There were a lot of Basswood Trees I guess in the area at the time. So that kind of gave it its nickname.”
An exciting memory for Reading was the time that Teddy Roosevelt stopped by town twice in one day on the campaign trail in 1907. But not long before that happened, this community had a much darker day.
“Half of our downtown at one time nearly burned down and had to be rebuilt,” said Mayor Penney. “This was back at the turn of the century.”
Reading has long since rebuilt, and nowadays there are 3 restaurants in town: Lone Ranger Café, Ray’s Tavern, and the Reading Pizza Barn. There’s also several ag support industries and auto supply facilities.
“We have an industrial park which houses eight or nine businesses that are smaller factories,” explained Ben Wheeler, the Economic Development Director for Reading.
The small mom and pop shops also really pull the community together, including K-Tee’s Screen Printing and Embroidery, plus Razorback Outdoors. There are also numerous lakes just west of Reading that serve as vacation hotspots, so this does become a bit of a tourist town during the summer.
But no matter what time of year it is, there’s always something happening. “May 17th, we celebrate 517 Day, which is a celebration of our area code and living in south-central Michigan,” Wheeler told us.
517 Day celebrations include live music, cocktails, food trucks, and more. There’s also Reading Summer Festival Days, which features a parade, truck pulls, and a 3 on 3 basketball tournament among other activities. Plus, Halloween in Reading is coming up fast!
“With that we’ll have a parade, we’ll have our trick-or-treating and costume judging,” added Wheeler. “In December we do the old fashioned Christmas, so we have Santa Claus come and we just really deck out the Michigan Street Pavilion. This Michigan Street Pavilion is our hub and home to all these events.”
Reading Rangers is the local school district, and about 50 kids graduate from the high school each year. Plus, this small but mighty town had a championship football program in the late 2010s.
“Our football went to state twice, two years, won back-to-back, which had only happened once before in all of Michigan history for our division. It was pretty cool to have that,” said Mayor Penney. “Our whole town pretty much emptied out and went to Ford Field for those events.”
“If you’re in town in the fall on a Friday and there’s a game at Barre Field, Barre Field is our sacred football field,” Wheeler also told us.
The schools are a unifying point for everyone in Reading, no matter how long ago they graduated. “A lot of nostalgia around the school and school events,” said Mayor Penney.
Whether you grow up in Reading or arrive later in life, the charm of this Small Town is undeniable. “We moved down here when I was a sophomore in high school. My parents changed jobs and we moved down to the area, finished high school down here,” Mayor Penney told us. “My wife and I, after we had our first child, we started looking for a home.”
“I’m a lifelong resident here,” said Wheeler. “I take great pride in living here, and I take great pride in seeing our little town succeed. You know, you can do big things in a little town.”
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