The eagle has landed.

G. Palmer Holmes and the World War II Honor Roll outside Town Hall, circa1946

Around 1946, the Town’s Honor Roll, which listed those Kingston residents who served in World War II, got an eagle. It was carved by Captain Fred Bailey, who fashioned at least two.

When the Honor Roll was taken down — it was replaced by the monument where Main Street crosses Route 3 — Holmes asked for the eagle.  It stayed in his family until very recently, when it landed here in the Library, to be cared for by the Local History Room.

Eagle, 2013

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com.

New Exhibit: The Boys of Summer Start in the Springtime

The Team of “30″

Stop by the Library this month to see photographs of baseball players in and around Kingston from 1897 to 1961.

Source: The Albion Holmes Collection, MC 25

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com

“Garden Family”

Despite the chill, spring has sprung so get ready to garden. Here are few inspirational but undated views by Emily Fuller Drew of her “Garden family.”

Garden family, no date, by Emily Fuller Drew.

Garden family, no date, by Emily Fuller Drew.

Garden family, no date, by Emily Fuller Drew.

Garden family, no date, by Emily Fuller Drew.

Garden family, no date, by Emily Fuller Drew.

Source: Emily Fuller Drew Collection MC16

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library, and the Local History Room, and the full blog piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com

A timely favorite

St. Patrick’s Day Cheerful Memories, no date

One of the things I love about this blog is the list of search terms that people use to get here.  It’s like a secret glimpse of what they want, and the sometimes very specific and other times wildly divergent ways they describe whatever that is.  The top searches are a mix of general and Kingston-centric — Nick’s Rock, delivery wagons, dance cards, famous hermits, Old Colony Railroad, all with hundreds of hits.  But my all-time favorite is a little ways down the list, at 23 searches over the last 4 or so years: leprechaun couple.

So glad I could oblige!

New Exhibit: Our “Odd” Neighbor

If you’ve ever wondered why the building at 7 Green Street, right across from the Library, has a sign on the front that reads “Adams Lodge, IOOF, 1900″ stop by and have a look at this month’s exhibit.

Odd Fellows Hall & School, Kingston, Mass., circa 1900.

 

 

View from Delano’s Wharf

Delano’s Wharf is one of Kingston’s iconic buildings, jutting into Kingston Bay from the end of Wharf Lane, near Gray’s Beach.

In a small twist of perspective, here’s a tranquil view from the Wharf.

 

Delano Cottages from Delano’s Wharf, circa 1920

 

Source: Delano Photograph Collection IC11

For more, visit the Kingston Public Library here, and the Local History Room here, and piqueoftheweek.wordpress.com

Somber Little Valentine

 

Gravestone of Charles Little, 1925

From Emily Drew’s photos of the Old Burying Ground, here’s the marker for Charles Little, son to Charles and Sarah Little who passed away, aged 4 month and 5 days, on February 14, 1717.

Source: Emily Fuller Drew Collection MC16. Negative scanned by the Boston Public Library, under a grant from the LSTA via MBLC.  More on that here.

Digging out

Brockton & Plymouth Street Railway Company snowplow, circa 1915

The trolley ran through Kingston from 1889 to 1928, and while the traffic definitely increased in the summer, the cars ran all winter too. In 1922, when the Brockton & Plymouth (successor to the Plymouth & Kingston and predecessor to the Plymouth & Brockton) owned the line, the rolling stock included three snowplow cars. One is shown here, scanned from a glass plate negative copy of an earlier photographic print.

“This view is beautiful”

“This view is beautiful,” 1908

Putting together an exhibit for Valentine’s Day, I found this postcard. Cataloging it for our online picture collection (coming soon!), I found this subject heading in the LOC’s TGM: ”Courtship. Use for Courting, Flirtation, Wooing.” Yes, I think that just does capture it.

Source: MC11 Joseph Cushman Finney Papers

Still water

Rocky Nook shore with sailboats, no date. Photo by Emily Fuller Drew