Кингстон, Нью-Гэмпшир: История и Достопримечательности

Place in New Hampshire, United States

Kingston is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 6,202.

Kingston was the fifth town to be established in New Hampshire. Originally, it was a part of Hampton. After King Philip's War, the establishment of new settlements was made possible by peace treaties with the local Indian tribes and, in 1692, by geographical and jurisdictional agreements between the provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire. Consequently, certain residents of Hampton petitioned for a grant of a separate township to be created from the western part of Hampton. And so, in 1694, King William III of England granted a royal charter establishing the town of "Kingstown", so named in honor of the King. Use of the title rather than the King's name was common at the time. The original charter exists to this day.

The Kingston historic district encompasses the town center of Kingston. Historic buildings and sites within the district include the Kingston town hall; the Josiah Bartlett House, home of the second signer of the U. S. Declaration of Independence; the First Universalist Church; the Sanborn Seminary; the Nichols Memorial Research Library; the Kingston Historical Museum (housed in the town's first fire house); The 1686 House restaurant; the Masonic building; the Cemetery at the Plains (where Josiah Bartlett is buried); the Church on the Plains; and the Grace Daley House and barn, home to the town's first church owned parsonage (1835).

West Kingston is located along the road to Danville, in the western section of town, southwest of Great Pond. Evidence of the early inhabitants was manifested by the construction of a log garrison house on the present Great Pond Road. This well built house consisted of two large rooms downstairs and a huge open chamber on the second floor. In later years a small ell was attached to the north side. The historic house was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. The stone step at the main entrance and what must have been the "cellar hole" of this dwelling are still visible. In the midst of an agrarian society, the charcoal manufacturing industry took root and became a major business in West Kingston. Charcoal was carried by horse drawn wagons to the Massachusetts cities of Haverhill, Lawrence, North Andover, Newburyport, Lowell, and Amesbury, as well as to Exeter, New Hampshire. Some was sold by street peddlers to be used in homes for the purpose of kindling fires. A great deal was also used by the large machine shops and by the silversmiths. Many individuals manufactured shoes in their small, one room shoe shops. Such a shop stood until recently near the Thomas Page residence. Some people sewed shoes in their own homes. Unlike the large scale factories of today, concerned with mass production, these enterprises constructed the whole shoe, hand sewing it with an artisan's touch. A cooper shop on the Wadleigh Farm produced barrels made entirely of wood: the staves were made of pine and hardwoods, and were bound with hoops of birch. Skilled workers made hooks to hold hoops together. When a sufficient number of barrels was collected, the men hauled them to Newburyport to be sold probably to be used by fishermen in packing fish.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Kingston has a total area of , of which are land and are water, comprising 5.90% of the town.

The Kingston Days celebration occurs on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of August. It is to celebrate the town's incorporation date of August 6, 1694. The celebration offers live music and activities, family fun and a large flea market, car show, and motorcycle show. It also includes various events such as a karate show and a police dog demonstration. During this event the Kingston Historical Museum complex is open to the public, in conjunction with the Nichols Memorial Research Library.

As of the census of 2010, there were 6,025 people, 2,288 households, and 1,704 families residing in the town. The population density was There were 2,480 housing units, of which 192, or 7.7%, were vacant at the time of the census. The racial makeup of the town was 97.0% White, 0.3% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% some other race, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population. Of the 2,288 households, 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were headed by married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63, and the average family size was 3.01.

A Season 4 episode of the Discovery Channel series A Haunting, called "Spirits of the Dead", takes place in Kingston.