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Historic places

Frederic C. Adams Library, view from the south, no date.
Frederic C. Adams Library, view from the south, no date.

 

This September. Wikimedia, the home of Wikipedia and so much more, is hosting a photography contest called Wiki Loves Monuments, featuring photographs of properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kingston has two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places: the Frederic C. Adams Library and the Major John Bradford House, as well as a National Historic District, which includes the area around Main and Green Streets.  For a listing of National Register sites in Plymouth County, and elsewhere, see Wikimedia’s list.

Major John Bradford house, rear view with well, 1921. By Emily Fuller Drew
Major John Bradford house, rear view with well, 1921. By Emily Fuller Drew

 

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Origins of the Local History Room

The Local History Room started some time ago, and while the exact date may never be known, the point of initiation is clear: a box of memorabilia carefully kept somewhere in the Frederic C. Adams Library.

Frederic C. Adams Library, no date
Frederic C. Adams Library, no date

At some point during her tenure, which stretched from the Library’s founding in 1898 to her retirement in 1936, Jennie F. McLauthlen “1st Librarian” wrote this undated note

It has been my object to slip into this box anything which may promise to be of local interest in the years to come.  After a generation or two, a picture of the life of Kingston in these days as shown by this varied and heterogeneous collection may prove of value as well as of interest.  At times it may look like a collection of trash, but I trust that my successors may consent to give it house room and perhaps add to it samples of their history.

And consent we do! Thank you Jennie, for saving us from the trash.

Jennie McLauthlen (at right) and friends, no date. Photograph by Emily Drew.
Jennie McLauthlen (at right) and friends, no date. Photograph by Emily Drew.