Reading, MA — Did You Know? General Marquis de Lafayette came to Reading in 1825. He returned to Reading this year on Saturday, June 21, exactly two hundred years later.

A reenactor with a horse and carriage traveled up Main Street from Green Street or Chapin Avenue with a police escort to the Latham & Latham Building on the corner of Pleasant Street, arriving at about 9:00 a.m.

In 1825, Reading residents flocked to the site of an old tavern to hear Lafayette address the crowd.

How did the locals hear about his tour back then? There was no local newspaper at the time. There were no telephones, internet, or other modern communication tools—but there was “word of mouth”! Perhaps it was at the church on the Common where news and gossip spread.

Lafayette traveled along the ‘Andover–Medford Turnpike’ northward, making many stops on his tour.

Did You Know? – The Andover–Medford Turnpike is still in use today. Did You Know? – Reading acknowledged Lafayette’s visit with a commemorative sign near the site of the old tavern. Additionally, a granite paver in the sidewalk marks the event. And finally, Did You Know that there is a roadway in Reading that bears his name?

Many residents participated in this present-day acknowledgement of Lafayette’s historic visit to Reading as the reenactor drove his horse-drawn carriage up Main Street on Saturday, June 21, at 9:00 a.m.

Alan Hoffman, president of the American Friends of Lafayette, undertook this project to remind people of the historic activity that occurred within our town some 200 years ago.