Happy 100th Birthday to St. Joseph’s

October 19 marks the 100th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Parish in Kingston.

St. Josephs Church, circa 1906
St. Joseph's Church, circa 1906

This postcard shows the Church’s first building at 261 Main St. Mailed from Middleboro and postmarked 9/21/1906, the card was sent to Miss Nellie McGinn who lived in Brighton, MA.  Built in 1882, the building was originally a mission chapel of St. Peter’s church in Plymouth, At that time, St. Peter’s served Catholics in Carver, Plympton, Duxbury, Hanson, and Marshfield in addition to Kingston and Plymouth.  The earliest Catholic Masses in Kingston were celebrated sometime in the 1850’s for one of the first Irish families who were tenants living in the historic Bradford House on Landing Road. The mission to St. Peter’s was created in 1873.

Today, this building houses St. Mark of Ephesus Orthodox Church.

The name St. Joseph’s was adopted later, perhaps when the independent parish was established in 1908.  The present-day St. Joseph’s was built further up Main Street at 272, and was dedicated on December 1, 1935.  This 2008 shot shows Our Lady’s Hall, the new parish center dedicated on May 13, 2006.

St. Josephs Church, Parish Center and Rectory, 2008
St. Joseph's Church, Parish Center and Rectory, 2008

The Railroad Bridge over Howland’s Lane

The Railroad Bridge over Howland’s Lane

Mr. Isaac Hedges, shown in this snapshot and identified on the back by Emily Drew, was one of the incorporators and later one of the directors of the Old Colony Railroad, as reported in the Nov. 7, 1919 issue of the Old Colony Memorial.  This particular photograph is undated, but it was likely taken in the 1870’s, or perhaps even earlier.

Isaac Hedge at the Howlands Lane railroad bridge, no date.
Isaac Hedge at the Howland’s Lane railroad bridge, no date.

The first run on the Boston-Plymouth line was Nov. 10, 1845; there would be two runs that day. By 1849, there were 15 locomotives, 4 baggage cars, 158 freight cars and 4 snowplows busy along the South Shore. The line has been running since, with only a few years of disuse.

We don’t know when the Howland’s Lane bridge over the tracks was built, but in 1998, the Patriot-Ledger reported it standing for at least 60 years.  In 1999, it was to be rebuilt — made higher to accomodate the double-decker passenger cars on the current commuter service — but area residents thought this would make the neighborhood unmanageable and the project was not done.  In 2008, however, the wooden planks that will be repaired.

Here’s another early but still undated view of an unpaved Howland’s Lane, looking towards Main Street. The buildings at right are no longer standing; the house at left is 59 Main Street.

Howlands Lane, Rocky Nook, no date.
Howland’s Lane, Rocky Nook, no date.

South Shore Football Champions of 1933

Football Champions

This group portrait shows some of the 1933 South Shore Champion Football Team of Kingston High School on the football field at the Bailey Playground (note the goal post in the background). Twenty-eight  boys, out of a total student body of 131 in Grades 9-12, went out for football that year. The new principal Mr. Gotschall supervised the football team (and the boys basketball team) in addition to his administrative duties.  Under the principal’s leadership, this small, inexperienced team won five games, lost two and tied one to capture the championship.  And as icing on the cake, the football games cleared a profit of $70.33; along with money from magazine sales and gifts, the school’s athletic and lunchroom bills were paid in full.

Members of the 1933 Kingston High School Football team
Members of the 1933 Kingston High School Football team

Front row (kneeling): Bob Bailey, Raoul Corrazari, George Candini, Clyde Mills, Eddie Cadwell, Stephen Reed, Bob Davis.  Second row: Malcolm “Mac” Peterson, Alfred Bruneau,  Harold “Slim” Alberghini,  Chester “Chet” Morrison, Amelio Ruffini, Russell “Prout” Prouty.

Note the equipment that would never meet today’s safety standards.