North Reading, Massachusetts is a suburban town that lies entirely within the watershed of the Ipswich River. Situated 15 miles north of Boston and just minutes from the historic fishing villages and rocky beaches of the North Shore region, the community offers a bounty of historic scenery, excellent schools, a healthy local business climate and matchless opportunities for outdoor recreation and leisure. Settled as a small farming village in 1651, it has since become one of the most desirable residential communities in eastern Massachusetts.

In the 17th and 18th century, North Reading's economy was based on subsistence farming with limited hops production. There was a sawmill on Lob's Pond by 1694 and grist and saw mills at the village center by 1794. Boot and shoe making industries sprang up in the early 19th century; by 1850 almost every house in town had a small shed or shop to make shoes attached to it. The cheap footwear these houses produced was sold to clothe slaves in the south and the Civil War destroyed the town's industry.

The people of North Reading take pride in the fact that their town center is preserved in its full historic splendor, including a Federal-style meeting house and an affluent Federal village with a well-preserved district of period houses.