Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/ RED-ing; Pennsylvania German: Reddin) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 census and is the fourth-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. Reading is located in the southeastern part of the state and is the principal city of the Greater Reading area, which had 420,152 residents in 2020.

Reading gives its name to the now-defunct Reading Company, also known as the Reading Railroad and since acquired by Conrail, that played a vital role in transporting anthracite coal from Pennsylvania's Coal Region to major East Coast markets through the Port of Philadelphia for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Reading Railroad is one of the four railroad properties in the classic U.S. version of the Monopoly board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry. It has been known as "The Pretzel City" because numerous local pretzel bakeries are based in the city and its suburbs; currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading area home. In recent years, the Reading area has become a destination for cyclists with more than 125 miles (201 km) of trails in five major preserves; the region is an International Mountain Bicycling Association ride center.

According to 2010 census data, Reading had the highest share of citizens living in poverty in the nation among cities with populations exceeding 65,000. Reading's poverty rate fell over the next decade. Reading's poverty rate in the five-year American Community Survey, published in 2018, showed that 35.4% of the city's residents were below the poverty line, or less "than the infamous 41.3% from 2011, when Reading was declared the poorest small city in the nation."

Reading is located 38.8 miles (62.4 km) southwest of Allentown and 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

Lenape people, also known as Delaware Indians, inhabited the Reading area prior to European settlement of the region in the 17th century. The Colony of Pennsylvania was a 1680 land grant from King Charles II of England to William Penn. Comprising more than 45,000 square miles (120,000 km²), it was named for his father, William Penn.

In 1743, Richard and Thomas Penn, both sons of William Penn, mapped out the town of Reading with Conrad Weiser. Taking its name from Reading, Berkshire, England, the town was established in 1748. Upon the creation of Berks County in 1752, Reading became the county seat. The region was settled by emigrants from southern and western Germany, who bought land from the Penns. The first Amish community in the New World was established in Greater Reading, Berks County. The Pennsylvanian German dialect was spoken in the area well into the 1950s.

During the French and Indian War, Reading was a military base for a chain of forts along the Blue Mountain.

James Wilson practiced law in Reading from 1767 until 1775.