A Walking Tour of Kingston, Rhode Island

By Doug Gelbert

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour is ready to explore when you are.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

For most of its time after settlement in the early 1700s Kingston was known as Little Rest. No one really knows why. An early theory maintained that troops rested here while fighting in King’s Philip’s War in 1675. In Colonial times as many as five taverns operated here so there was ample opportunity for a little rest in the village for travelers.

The Washington County government set up here in 1752 and Little Rest joined the five-town rotation of the Rhode Island Assembly. Still the village remained clustered around its traditional core. After 1840 few buildings were added and when the village name was changed in 1885 to Kingston the population was still less than 300.

A few years later the school that is now the University of Rhode Island arrived but it developed to the north of Kinston Village. Walking down Kingstown Road you won’t even know it is there. In Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State, compiled during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Kingston is described as “a quiet town with a wide main street, untouched by commercialism, and lined with elm trees, some of which are from 150 to 200 years old.”

That description would apply to our walking tour, except that there are more cars on Kingstown Road and the trees are 80 years older...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Feb 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458146656

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A Walking Tour of Kingston, Rhode Island

a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

by Doug Gelbert

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Doug Gelbert

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

For most of its time after settlement in the early 1700s Kingston was known as Little Rest. No one really knows why. An early theory maintained that troops rested here while fighting in King’s Philip’s War in 1675. In Colonial times as many as five taverns operated