To mark the passing of Margaret Warnsman, a former Library Trustee and Local History Room donor, this month’s exhibit features a small selection from the papers, photographs and other materials Margaret collected and gave to the Town of Kingston, in care of the Library.
One of my favorite things is finding something completely unexpected, and Margaret’s collection did not disappoint. In browsing for items to display, I opened a folder titled “Scholarship donations, 1924” to find several pages of names and figures in pencil.
The Elm Street dam and bridge over the Jones River, before 1920
Sometime before 1920, Emily Drew photographed the wooden dam at Elm Street before it was replaced by a concrete structure. She also captured the old iron bridge constructed in 1889 to carry Elm Street over the Jones River. Stop by the library to learn more about the bridge.
Back when the Library was on the other side of the street, the Kingston Inn occupied our current site at the corner of Green and Summer. Originally called the Patuxet House, the hotel was built in 1854 by Josiah Cushman to capitalize on the arrival of the Old Colony Railroad just a few years earlier. The hotel was not particularly successful, and several owners and managers were involved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Some strange and mysterious events took place at the Inn. In 1881, the remains of six people and “funerary objects” were discovered on the grounds. Because it was a suspected Native American burial ground, the remains were turned over the Peabody Essex Museum. In 1921, the “Rum-Runner’s Murder” took place in the 20 car garage. The somewhat cloudy circumstances involved professional dice players, a trunkful of illegal liquor and $4,000 in missing cash. A murder trial followed in 1922. In 1927, the re-christened Bay View Inn was offered as first prize in a raffle as the First Annual Grand Bazaar by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. For reasons unknown, the raffle never happened.
By the 1950’s, the hotel — once again called the Kingston Inn — was advertised as a summer resort for African-Americans, particularly those travelling from New York for a Cape Cod vacation. Unfortunately the venue remained as unsuccessful as it had been a century earlier. In 1970, the contents were auctioned and the building was razed.
Source: Major Bradford’s Town, by Doris Johnson (Town of Kingston: 1976)
Sometime early in the last century, someone at the Frederic C. Adams Public Library bought just over 600 stereoviews. The views date from 1893 to 1907 and show a wide variety of places around the United States and the world, with commentary from Baedecker’s and other travel guides on the back.
805 The Cotton Levee, New Orleans, LA., 1901
Using a stereoscope to view the double pictures in 3D, library patrons in Kingston could travel the world without leaving Summer Street.
In the search for photographs for the summertime exhibit, these three images turned up. As seen in earlierposts, the Plymouth & Kingston trolley, which started in 1886, merged with other lines and expanded until the tracks reached Brockton in 1900. The emergence of Kingston as a summer destination and the development of the cottage communities of Rocky Nook quickly followed.
While it’s not clear if these men are motormen (drivers) or conductors (ticket takers, schedule keepers and safety inspectors), they seem very serious about the work at hand, or at least about posing for the photographer.
This month’s exhibit celebrates summer in Kingston with picnics and parades, fresh sweet corn from the farmer’s market, swimming, fishing, and just lounging on the grass eating ice cream.
Horse-drawn float in the 200th Anniversary Parade, 1926
Here’s the front of a float in Kingston’s 200th Anniversary Parade, which rolled on August 20, 1926. The four boys behind the float seem very interested in whatever’s going on behind that shack…
Bathing beauties on 200th Anniversary Parade float, 1926
