For what it’s worth

In 1924, the Kingston Highway Department did a good deal of work on the roads — particularly West Street, Pembroke Street, and Maple Street — and a new “highway beacon” was installed.

While discussions of municipal spending on roadways dates back to the earliest town meetings, automobile traffic — that “modern method of travel” — was a new and rapidly growing concern.  Highway Surveyor Warren S. Nickerson did his best to balance repairs, new construction and snow removal within his budget.  He pointed out in his annual report that costs were held down by judicious purchase and careful maintenance of equipment.

Some of those parts came from the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company.

Buffalo-Springfield Company bill to Kingston Highway Department, 1924

Buffalo-Springfield Company bill to Kingston Highway Department, 1924

Payment receipt to Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company for Kingston Highway Department, 1924

 

Sources: Town of Kingston Annual Reports; TOK-5 Accounting

New exhibit: Hooked!

This month’s exhibit features a dozen or so hooks made by C. Drew and Company of Kingston.  Stop by and take a look.

C. Drew and Company Catalog, circa 1942

Happy holidays!

Xmas Limited, no date

 

A friend at sea

The schooner Cordova, 93 tons, 69′ in length with a beam of 18 ‘ and a draft of 8′, was built in Kingston in 1835 by Lysander Bartlett for Benjamin Delano.  Described by Henry Jones in Ships of Kingston as a full-bowed vessel, with masts raked well aft, bowsprits steeved very high and ports painted in the old style, she sailed to the West Indies, along the New England coast and throughout Atlantic fishing grounds until 1882.

In 1835 Cordova brought in a haul of 42,000 fish from the Grand Banks, but in 1855, she engaged in a different kind of business there, one that may have saved a sister schooner.

Receipt for an anchor, 1855

Grand Bank, August 29th 1855

Received on Board the Schr [schooner] called the Mary Brewer of Castine, from on Board Schr. Cordova of Kingston viz. one anchor weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, and the stock belonging thereunto for which I promise to pay the owners of the Cordova or return said anchor &c in good order. James Brophy

The Mary Brewer, a schooner of 115 tons, 77′ by 21′ by 8′, had been built in Vinalhaven, ME in 1852, but sailed from Castine. She was one of the largest of the Grand Bankers in the Penobscot Bay area.

For more on Grand Banks fishing, take a look at this Smithsonian exhibit.

Source: MC13 Arthur Beane Collection/Jones River Village Historical Society; Ships of Kingston by Henry Jones.

New exhibit: Laddie, A Christmas Story

Laddie meets Santa, 1928

In 1928, the first and second graders in one of the Kingston schools wrote a short book about Laddie, the dog who saved Christmas. As Elspeth Hardy, their teacher and editor,  wrote in the preface, “The children worked collectively; one child started with an opening sentence, the others took the thought and followed on until the tale was finished.” Illustrations by Kingstonian Marion Cobb Dries complete the work.

Stop by the Library and read this Kingston Christmas classic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"A Joyful Thanksgiving," about 1911

 

And for more Thanksgiving goodness, see here and there!

New Exhibit: The Margaret Warnsman Collection

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.

Scholarship donations, 1924

Pretty standard, until I turned the page.

Order form for opium, etc. circa 1910

Trick or treat!

Best costumes at Kingston Elementary School, 1952. Photo by Kingston Sudio.

If you need any ideas for your Halloween festivities, here are the costume winners from a few decades back.

New Exhibit: The Elm Street Bridge

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.

 

Only the finest imports…

Bought of Charles T. Carney, June 22, 1855

 

“Drugs, Chemicals, European Leeches, and Cigars.”