Travel Back in Time: Flint Memorial Library

North Reading roots stretch back to pre-Revolutionary War days, and the town established one of the country's first libraries.

Reading established North Reading as a parish in 1651, after receiving a special land grant. Six families moved in and began subsistence farming. As the town grew, its economy branched out and by 1794 saw and gristmills occupied the town center. 

North Reading separated from Reading in 1713 and became North Parish. Then, in 1853, it was established as the town of North Reading. 

By the early 19^th century, North Reading was producing milk, apples and other fruits, and cheap shoes and boots to be shipped South to slave owners who needed to clothe their slaves. By 1850, almost every resident had established a small shoe/boot-making business.

As logic would dictate, the Civil War devastated the town’s economy. But that didn’t stop it from establishing a public library shortly after the war.

The Flint Memorial Library

The existence of the can be attributed to two dedicated and passionate people: Harriet Newell Flint and John B. Campbell. In 1848, Massachusetts officially established Boston’s right to build a library, and in 1851 the state extended this right to all of its cities and towns.

Flint had married into a successful and philanthropic family, who hailed from North Reading. Her husband, Charles Flint, was a prosperous farmer, agriculturist, investor, community leader and one of the founding members of The Farmers’ Club. He shared a passion for nature with fellow member Campbell.

Campbell also had a vested interest in establishing a library in North Reading. He convinced other members to donate books, and established what came to be known as the Farmers’ Library; it opened shortly after the Civil War influencing nearby towns to open libraries of their own.

But The Farmers’ Club disbanded in 1871 and Campbell, fearing that the library would also disappear, appealed to Harriet. Charles had passed away in 1868, but Harriet had proven herself a savvy businesswoman. She grew her fortune despite the fact that women could not have careers in the late 19^th century. And, despite the fact that she was living in Wakefield at the time, she showered North Reading with philanthropy.

In February 1873, at Campbell’s urging, she gifted the town with the Flint Library of North Reading and established an endowment fund. She purchased roughly 400 books and had them set up in a room in the old Academy Building on Haverhill Street, which later became the Campbell House.

The town built Flint Memorial Hall in 1874, at Harriet’s behest, in memory of Charles Flint. In 1875, the library moved into the newly completed building.

Over the years, it shared space with a drugstore, an insurance agent, a dentist, a barber shop and a restaurant. Eventually, the drugstore left, and the library expanded, remaining intact until 1958.

At that point, the library moved across the street into Whitcomb Hall -- which is now known as The Damon Tavern -- and town offices, including the police department and jail, moved in.

Local historian and member of the Library Building Committee, Mary Rubenstein, penned a history in 1991 that said,  “It was possible to go from the Library to the Police Station through a passageway under the staircase.”

The hall also served as the social and civic center, hosting Women’s Club productions such as Grange plays, minstrel shows, school plays, graduations and weekly Saturday night dances. The hall housed town officials for 100 years, but eventually it could not support the infrastructure and government moved out in 1988.

The hall was empty, and structural defects in the Weeks Building (i.e. Whitcomb Hall) forced the library to evacuate and reduce its presence into a corner of the library. So the Preservation Partnership Commission recommended that the hall be renovated as the town’s new library facility.

In 1988, Town Meeting authorized $550,000 to complete the planning, and in 1989, Town Meeting added another $2 million. The town broke ground on Monday, Aug. 20, 1989 and the building was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1991.

Today, Flint Memorial Library stands in the town center as tribute to North Reading’s living history and growth. It occupies four floors, including a children’s library, a teen’s program and of course the requisite fiction, non-fiction and reference departments, a local history room and more.

Keeping on with tradition, it also hosts a slew of community-building events and activities such as book clubs, children’s programs, concerts, and readings.

Visit The Fint Memorial Library to learn about its offerings and programs.