“Asa Hammond house – Wapping Road. Asa in foreground,” no date
Asa Cook Hammond (1826-1913) was a carpenter or housewright, who was born Pembroke, but lived in Kingston from around 1850 until his death. He married Amanda Clark, a dressmaker from Plympton in 1849; they had several children. Both are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery.
Asa is identified as the figure in the foreground of the photograph but the woman and two boys are not, though it seems likely they are Asa’s wife and children.
The Hammond’s house, built in the Queen Anne style with an unusual center hall plan and set perpendicular to the road, still stands at 40 Wapping Road.
Though not in town, the lighthouse at the Gurnet — formally known as the Plymouth Light Station — is familiar to many Kingstonians.
The Massachusetts legislature authorized the first lighthouse on the Gurnet in 1768; it burned to the ground in 1801. The federal government replaced the original with a pair of towers, which served for the next 41 years. Our photo shows the twin wooden towers built in 1842 to replace the earlier pair. The two lights stood together until 1924, when the northeast tower was taken down.
The current tower stands 39 feet tall, 102 feet above water; it is wood framed and shingled. The light flashes an alternating single, then double white every 20 seconds, with a red sector marking the Mary Ann Rocks. In 1977, the light was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the oldest freestanding wooden lighthouse in the United States.
In 1997, the Coast Guard moved the remaining tower 140 feet north, away from the eroding cliff. Two years later, the light was turned over to the nonprofit Project Gurnet & Bug Lights Inc., which manages the two.
Map of the Brockton & Plymouth Street Railway, n.d.
From 1889 to 1928, trolleys ran through Kingston, every half hour or so, reaching Brockton to the west and Manomet to the east. The line was run by three companies in succession: the Plymouth & Kingston, the Brockton & Plymouth, and the Plymouth & Brockton (and if that last one seems familiar, that’s because they still run buses between Logan Airport and Provincetown). There’s not much left of the street railway, but you can stop by the Library to see photos of some of the trolleys in the exhibit case this month.
Source: OC2 Vertical Files – Trolleys. “Brockton & Plymouth Street Railway” by O.R. Cummings. In Transportation Bulletin, No. 59, July-August-September 1959. Inserted between pages 2 and 3.
Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920Emily Fuller Drews models a Pilgrim costume, circa 1920
As a descendant of First Comers and an indefatigable researcher of their occupations, genealogies, land swaps and lawsuits, Emily Fuller Drew was perhaps more entitled than most to dress up like a Pilgrim. It certainly seems to have suited her.
This month, the Local History exhibit case at the Kingston Public Library features a few football artifacts loaned to us by the Silver Lake Regional High School Library. Recently Coach John Montosi, who led the Lakers football team from 1960 to 1980, donated six scrapbooks to the school. These volumes, created by Montosi’s mother Dorothy, document the coach’s career and the team’s development over two decades which ended with a Division Championship and a Super Bowl win.
The artifacts will be on display through early December. The scrapbooks will be available in the Kingston Public Library through December 31; please contact the Archivist for an appointment. In 2014, the scrapbooks will return to the Silver Lake Library.
Thanks to Linda Redding, SLRHS Librarian, for making this exhibit possible!
Ring ring goes the bell
The cook in the lunchroom ready to sell
Chuck Berry — “School Days”
For September’s lobby case exhibit, the Local History Room presents highlights from a great collection of photographs of Kingston Elementary School dating from 1952 to 1966. These class portraits and candid shots were collected by Florence Esther DiMarzio, who taught at KES from 1920 to 1958 and served as principal for 34 of those 38 years. In addition to 180 prints, the Local History Room has digital copies of another 20 photographs held in a private collection.
Grade Two, Mrs. Tuttle, 1960
We haven’t identified everyone in the photos, so if you know who some of them are, ask for a photocopy, label the people you know and return it to the Local History Room. We’ll put in their Permanent Records!
Singing pines, circa 1925. By Emily Fuller Drew.Summer Street looking south before the widening, 1927. By Emily Fuller Drew.Railroad tracks, 1920. By Emily Fuller Drew.
In honor of this most American holiday, here are a few views of one of our favorite floats from the inaugural year: the “Guardians of the Clam Flats.”
“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910“Guardians of the Clam Flats” float, Fourth of July parade, 1910
Source: LHR General Images IC7 (top two); Hathaway Collection MC21
And now, a word from our sponsors…
If you can spare a moment, please help the Library Needs Assessment Committee plan for the Library’s future by sharing your thoughts and ideas in this short survey. Even if you don’t currently use the Library, we want your input.
Peering into the awful crater of Aso San, a volcano in Southern Japan, 1906. H.C. White Co.
While not going so far or daring so much this intrepid pair, LHR staff will be away next week (June 24 to 28).
See you in July!
Source: Stereoview Collection IC9 [a wonderful collection puchased by the Frederic C. Adams Library in the early 20th century, so Kingstonians could see the world in 3D].
