Kingston, MA. Town History
The town of Kingston is a suburb of Boston with a population of 13,381, first incorporated as its own distinct town on June 16th, 1726. Kingston’s borders were carved out of the neighboring towns of Plymouth, Duxbury, Plympton and Pembroke, all of which were incorporated before Kingston. In the early-to-middle 19th century, Kingston flourished as a center for shipbuilding, as well as ice harvesting. Jones River Pond, the largest body of freshwater in town, was used during the long New England winters to harvest ice, which was then shipped around the world. Jones River Pond was even renamed to Silver Lake for marketing purposes, during the height of the ice harvesting export industry, and retains the name today. In the 1950s Kingston was transformed from a small rural town into an extension of the Boston metropolitan area when Massachusetts Route 3 was constructed. Kingston saw its largest population growth in the 1990s, when the Old Colony Railroad was reopened, connecting Kingston with Boston and making Kingston an even more viable place for commuters to live.
Kingston, MA. Today
The town of Kingston has a total area of 20.5 square miles, of which 18.6 square miles is land and 1.9 square miles is water. It is located approximately 35 miles south-southeast of Boston. Today, it is a thriving community where people are successful and affluent. The average home is valued at $365,900 and 82% of residents own their own homes as opposed to a mere 18% who are renting. Homes on the market currently range from about $350,000 to well over a million dollars, and the average person’s annual salary is above the national average nearly 3 times over, at $106,654. Silver Lake Middle School and Silver Lake High School are both top-rated public schools, and the students are generally well educated people who graduate and then go to college. Kingston offers activities such as shopping, going to the beach, kayaking, fishing in the ponds, or going for a boat ride. It is also home to Pottle Street, a beautiful sports complex with baseball, soccer, softball, lacrosse and football fields, and of course, the snack shack. Probably the best thing about Kingston, however, is its close proximity to bigger towns like Boston and Cape Cod, so no matter what you want to do, you can easily find it nearby.
Other Facts About Kingston, MA.
Today’s Kingston still has a small number of professional fishermen and cranberry growers. Residents enjoy Gray’s Beach, the AhDeNah Landing on the Jones River, fishing and shellfishing, as well as hiking on numerous open space properties. Great schools, an active senior center, recreation center and public library round out this terrific community. In Kingston there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals live in Kingston, and residents tend to lean liberal. 69% of all adults have a college education to one degree or another, making Kingston well above the average in most other small towns of comparable population.