Back to school

To the despair of children everywhere (and likely to the joy of their parents), it is that time of year when the school year starts anew.
Here are Elspeth Hardy’s first graders at the Center Primary school on Green Street, now called the Faunce School.  Mrs. Hardy taught generations of Kingston children in a career that spanned several schools and more than fifty years.
Mrs. Hardy's first grade class at the Center Primary School, 1915
Mrs. Hardy's first grade class at the Center Primary School, 1915

The text on the chalkboard tells us that “the body is the temple of the soul,” a lesson for all time perhaps.

Olly-olly oxen-free!

Or, as Johnny Cash might sing, “I got livestock, I got livestock.”

Walter Faunce and his double yoke of oxen on Wapping Road, no date.
Walter Faunce and his double yoke on Wapping Road, no date.
"Patrons of Husbandry" parade float, 1919.
"Patrons of Husbandry" parade float, 1919.
Michael McGrath and his team at the Bailey Playground, 1925.
Michael McGrath and his team at the Bailey Playground, 1926.
Horatio Adams' oxen, no date.
Horatio Adams' oxen, no date.
Eugene Malone with Joseph Holmes' team on Summer Street, 1900.
Eugene Malone with Joseph Holmes' team on Summer Street, 1900.

Nick’s Rock

Published in 1899 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Topographical Survey Commission, The Atlas of the Boundaries of the Town of Kingston describes the 18 corners marking the town limits and the seven “triangulation stations” used to locate the corners. The Atlas includes the statutes that formally defined the boundaries, textual descriptions, a scale map of the town along with details of each corner, two tables of geographical data and nicely captioned photographs.

The witness stone at corner 17, near Kingston Bay, 1899
The witness stone at corner 17, near Kingston Bay, 1899

Among the readily identifiable landmarks, such as Monk’s Hill, the Kingston Unitarian Church and the Standish Monument, is one known to many but now gone: Nick’s Rocks.

In the 1920’s Emily Drew wrote

Nick’s Rock on the line between the towns of Plymouth and Kingston, not far from Monk’s Hill is one of three rocks in Kingston which “testify” to the visits of the Devil as imprints of his feet and hooves prove “conclusively” that such visits were really made. The other two rocks are both called Devil’s Rock. One lies near Bay Farm and the other in the brick-kiln pasture near C. Drew and Company on Stony Brook.

Nick’s Rock was also used as a boundary marker for the town line between Plymouth and Kingston. Originally the rock marked the way for Nick’s Rock Road, which was the main road from the early Plymouth settlement. The road branched at the rock with one direction heading towards Plympton and the other towards the Flaxing Place at Smelt Pond.

Nick's Rock, 1899
Nick's Rock, 1899

The 1899 Atlas locate Nicks’ Rock on the line between corners 17 and 18, at latitude 41 57 35.95 and longitude 70 42 59.64,  and describes the landmark as

situated in the boundary line between Kingston and Plymouth, in a thick growth of low scrub oaks, with scattering yellow pines, about 75 feet west of a wood-road.  It is a well know point being marked by a rock about 10 feet high and measuring 12 x 15 feet on the top, which slopes to the southwest.  A good view is obtained for miles to the south and west.

The witness stone at corner 18, 1899
The witness stone at corner 18, 1899

Nick’s Rock is gone now, though a marker in the median strip of the new Route 44 just west of the Cherry Street overpass commemorates this bygone stone.