Kingston, Massachusetts Kingston, Massachusetts Official seal of Kingston, Massachusetts Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States.
Several years before the Mayflower had landed in Plymouth, amid the Native American epidemic of 1616 to 1619, the Wampanoag populace was severely damaged from a quickly spreading pandemics due to earlier contacts with Europeans. Several ancient Native American burial sites have been positioned inside the borders of Kingston.
Originally part of Plymouth, Kingston was first settled by Europeans shortly after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
It was settled once more in 1635. During 1675, a several bloody battles amid King Philip's War are believed to have occurred inside Kingston's borders and the residence of Governor Bradford, which is now part of Kingston, was raided by Wampanoag warriors.
In 1685, the region was placed inside the boundaries of Plymouth County and for a brief time, between 1686 and 1689, the borders of Kingston were inside the Dominion of New England.
Kingston was first established as Plymouth's northern precinct in 1717 upon the creation of First Parish Kingston, now a Unitarian Universalist church in the town's center. Kingston was incorporated as a distinct town on June 16, 1726, following a tax dispute between the inhabitants of north and south Plymouth, when the church was known as the upper class portion of Plymouth.
Kingston's borders were carved out of neighboring suburbs Plymouth, Duxbury, Plympton and Pembroke, all of which were incorporated before Kingston. The American Revolutionary War era brig, USS Independence, was assembled by Kingston shipbuilders on the Jones River and has emerged as a town icon, featured on the Kingston town seal.
Kingston is also home to the first co-op store in North America, which was closed when the Silver Lake Post Office shuttered operations in 1954.
In the 1950s Kingston was transformed from a small non-urban town into an extension of the Boston urbane region when Massachusetts Route 3 was constructed, connecting Boston to Cape Cod, with two exits in Kingston (and a third exit immediately over the town line in Duxbury).
Kingston saw its biggest population expansion in the 1990s when the Old Colony Railroad was reopened as a commuter rail line, connecting once-rural Kingston with Boston, making Kingston an even more viable place for commuters to live.
More recently, Kingston has seen the assembly of four industrial-sized wind turbines, positioned along Route 3.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 20.5 square miles (53.1 km2), of which 18.6 square miles (48.3 km2) is territory and 1.9 square miles (4.8 km2), or 9.02%, is water. Kingston is bordered by the town of Pembroke to the north, Duxbury to the northeast, Plymouth to the south, Carver to the southwest, and Plympton to the west.
Kingston is approximately 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Brockton and 35 miles (56 km) south-southeast of Boston.
Kingston lies on Kingston Bay, an inlet to the larger Plymouth Bay.
The Jones River runs through the town from its source, Silver Lake, to the bay.
There is a state forest in the town, positioned in the southern portion of the town which is generally used for biking, off-roading, and hunting.
Kingston is also the site of Gray's Beach, in a neighborhood called Rocky Nook, just north of the Plymouth town line.
Massachusetts Route 3, also known as the Pilgrims Highway, runs through the easterly portion of town.
There are three exits for Kingston: at the Independence Mall, now called the Kingston Collection, in the southern portion of town, at Route 3 - A, and on the Kingston/Duxbury town line where Route 3 - A again crosses the highway.
Route 44 passes through the southern portion of town, along the edge of the state forest, on its way to its new intersection with Route 3.
Additionally, Routes 27, 53, 80, and 106 all end in the town, with all except Route 27 (which ends at Route 106) ending at their intersections with Route 3 - A.
The Kingston end is positioned just off Route 3, north of the mall.
Kingston is positioned on the 42nd alongside, recognized by a roadside memorial on Landing Road near the Bay Farms area.
Commuter rail service from Boston's South Station is provided by the MBTA with a stop in Kingston on its Plymouth/Kingston Line. Commuter bus service from Plymouth to Boston is provided by Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway Company with a stop in Kingston.
In the town, the populace was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older.
Old Kingston Town Hall, with Civil War monument in foreground.
Kingston is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Twelfth Plymouth District, which includes Plympton and Halifax, plus portions of Duxbury, Middleborough and Plymouth.
The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Plymouth and Barnstable District, which includes Bourne, Falmouth, Pembroke, Plymouth, and Sandwich. The town is patrolled by the First (Norwell) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police. On the nationwide level, Kingston is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is presently represented by Bill Keating.
Kingston operates under the open town meeting form of government, led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen.
Kingston's town offices moved into a new building in 2003, closer to its animal control and highway department facilities on Evergreen Street, on the opposite side of Evergreen Cemetery from the old building.
The Kingston Public Library is positioned just athwart the street from the old town hall, and is a part of the Old Colony Library Network.
Kingston is a member of the Silver Lake Regional School District along with Halifax and Plympton.
Although the suburbs in the Silver Lake School District share a middle school and a high school, each operates their own elementary schools.
Kingston operates the Kingston Elementary School and Kingston Intermediate School for students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Once students reach seventh undertaking they are sent to Silver Lake Regional Middle School and then Silver Lake Regional High School, both in Kingston.
Silver Lake operates its own vocational facilities; if a trade is chosen that is not supported by Silver Lake students are sent to South Shore Vocational Technical High School in Hanover.
Silver Lake was recognized in 2008 by Boston Magazine as being one of the 30 smartest enhance high schools in Massachusetts.
Kingston is home to one private school, Sacred Heart, which is positioned along Bishops Highway (Route 80) just south of Route 44.
Kingston is veiled in both the Boston and Providence, Rhode Island media markets, receiving WCVB (ABC), WBZ (CBS), and WHDH (NBC) news from Boston.
Recently WFXT (Fox 25) has added a news agency which covers Kingston.
In 1912, the Kingston News had a brief stint.
From 1927 to 1930, the Kingston Sun veiled town.
For many years, through the 1980s, the Pembroke-based Silver Lake News veiled Kingston news.
The Kingston Observer directed from 1987 to 2009. Since then, the Kingston Reporter is printed and read by town locals.
Kingston is veiled in print media by the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Patriot Ledger, Brockton Enterprise, and the Kingston Reporter since 1984.
Bradford House (Kingston, Massachusetts) (Major John Bradford Homestead), assembled in 1714 "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Kingston town, Plymouth County, Massachusetts".
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Kingston town, Plymouth County, Massachusetts".
Kingston station official website.mbta.com.
"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kingston, Massachusetts.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kingston, Massachusetts.
Town of Kingston official website Municipalities and communities of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States
Categories:
Populated coastal places in Massachusetts - Towns in Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Populated places established in 1620 - Kingston, Massachusetts - Towns in Massachusetts - 1726 establishments in Massachusetts
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