Category: kingston

News or events in Kingston which we participate in or promote

Kingston Presbyterian 300th Year

2023 is an anniversary year.

Along the trading routes of the Lenape people, the village of Kingston began to be home to some Dutch, English, and Scotch-Irish settles around 1675.
It wouldn’t be until 1723 that there would be a formal declaration of a village church.
Settlers gathered in faith inside homes, and then in a log cabin along the Millstone river. The faithful grew into a gathered community and took a charter to affirm publicly what it had grown into—the worshipping body of the Kingston community.

By the time of the church’s official charter, January 21, 1723, the church had already moved up from the river, having acquired land from Jedediah Higgins sometime before his death in 1715.
The church was built on land which is now Kingston Presbyterian’s cemetery; the graves grew in number around it, as was the custom of the day.
In 1852, the community moved from the cemetery to its present position. For three centuries Kingston Presbyterian Church has sought to love God and love their neighbors, all to God’s glory.

Throughout 2023 the church will celebrate. The whole Kingston community and neighbors are invited to share in the festivities.

Rev Sharyl M Dixon Kingston Presbyterian Church

The congregation has scheduled many events for the anniversary year 2023

  • January 21st 300th Charter Luncheon
  • January 22nd Kick off of 300th Anniversary Worship with Quilt Presentation
  • January 29th Annual Meeting
  • March 5th Chili Cookoff Lunch
  • April 9th Easter
  • May 21st Welcome Home Worship, Welcoming John & Shirley Heinsohn, and others
  • June 3rd Historical Society Conversation and Refreshments
  • June 24th Blueberry Festival
  • July 29th Vacation Bible School Worship and Picnic
  • September 17th Friendship Sunday and Celebration of 50years + members
  • October 14th Cemetery Tales
  • October 15th Worship in the First Church in Cemetery
  • October 28th Friends For Health In Haiti Luncheon
  • November 19th Thanksgiving Service and Time Capsule
  • Dec 24th Candlelight Christmas Eve Service

Locktender’s House Closed for Winter 2022-2023

Public access to the Kingston Locktender’s House is available from April to November each year. In the winter months of December, January and February we are open only for special events and for members and archivists to work on research and improvements.

If you’d like to help with archiving or helping with display areas, please contact us, we are glad to have the help!

For interest in the Archiving team use our interest form LINK HERE

Come to the Holiday Tree Lighting LINK HERE (or other winter events to-be-announced)

Contact us via mail or email LINK HERE

Until Spring, enjoy our web pages and browse our posts archive:

KHS Annual Meeting December 6 2022

The 2022 Kingston Historical Society Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 6 at 7 O’Clock PM. The meeting will be “hybrid” – in person at the Kingston Firehouse and also virtually by Zoom.

After a very brief business meeting including reports and election of Trustees, there will be an illustrated program:

The D. & R. Canal State Park: Sustaining a Key New Jersey Asset.  

The program includes two Powerpoint presentations, one prepared by Millstone Valley Preservation Coalition (MVPC) members and one by the Canal Park Historian of NJ DEP Division of Parks, Forestry and Historic Sites.

The D&R Canal played a significant role in Kingston’s history. Today the canal and its State Park is a key part of the Kingston Greenway and a major recreational resource for Kingstonians. KHS’s headquarters are in one of the State Park’s historic canal houses.

The presentations were originally prepared for a Millstone Valley Scenic Byway Stakeholders meeting. KHS is a partner in the Millstone Valley Preservation Coalition, the sponsor of the Millstone Valley National Scenic Byway. The Byway includes Laurel Avenue, part of Main Street/ Route 27 and Church Street as well as River Road. The D&R Canal State Park is the core and unifying element of the Byway Corridor. The Corridor is a mix of preserved natural areas, farmland, historic villages (of which Kingston is the most significant), sites and districts and a major recreational resource for Central New Jersey.

To Attend Virtually (via Zoom.us)

The meeting is free and all are welcome; those wishing to attend virtually should request a link at https://www.khsnj.org/talk/ Access to the meeting begins at 6:45 PM, fifteen minutes before the meeting starts. Please mute audio and video during the presentation.

– RvZ

Interest Groups Being Formed

Kingston Webmasters Roundtable forming
The web team for khsnj.org and web developers for other Kingston area, volunteer run websites are forming a roundtable group to share ideas and progress.

Kingston Archivist Team forming
The archiving group has a backlog requiring entry, and would welcome careful volunteers to help preserve and catalog items.

For details, current status, and how to join either of these teams, visit our groups page at THIS LINK

Watch Picnic Video Online!

At the Kingston Village Picnic in August 27, 2022 we showed:

KINGSTON: Crossroads to History (2001)

Here is a link to the full video (this takes about 20 seconds to load… please have patience. You may have to tap the video once it loads.)

You can also view the video directly on Archive.org by clicking HERE

(and consider supporting archive.org with a donation! They provide free hosting for our videos.)

also, you can read all about the picnic at this blog post

Kingston Picnic Aug 27 – Details

Allthough the event has passed, you can review the event invitation and view video shown at the picnic. Hope to see you next year!

It’s Village Picnic Time

Allthough the event has passed, you can view the video shown at the picnic HERE

Table of Contents

Who?

Kingstonians from near and far.
Newcomers and friends of General Washington.
Families, Frisbees, and Fans of Jazz.

If the weather cooperates on Saturday, August 27, come end the summer with a community celebration.

What to bring?

Bring a chair, blanket, and a picnic and enjoy live music and the delightful company of your neighbors and friends (and meet some new ones!)

What to see and do?

While we have not had a village picnic in several years, the KHS and KVAC are ready to say “we are back!” It won’t be the full extravaganza of years ago, but we will have the usual Kingston things…. Fire Trucks, fine music, and even a movie at 8 PM

Local churches will have tables, and local organizations too, so come meet everyone in town. Yes, you can even learn about volunteering with the Kingston Volunteer Fire Company!

We are proud to announce that music will be provided by Phil Orr & Steve Hiltner, both members of Sustainable Jazz Ensemble (link).

STEVE HILTNER is a longtime jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and leader of Sustainable Jazz. A 2018 CD, “Until I Find the Words”, features his original compositions across a broad range of jazz and Latin styles.

(from their website)

Pianist/composer PHIL ORR has been interpreting Steve Hiltner’s very personal music since 2006—a good, long ride…

(from their website)

Where: Kingston Park (Lauel Ave. Schoolyard)

Entertainment Schedule

5:30 or so: Bring a picnic and a blanket/chairs
6 PM Music By Phil Orr & Steve Hiltner
8 PM Movie: Kingston: Crossroads of History

Sponsors

Sponsored by the
Kingston Historical Society
and Kingston Village Advisory Committee

Kingston: Main Street Reflections — June 22nd 2022

Table of Contents

A video of this presentation is now available below.

Panel for Kingston: Main Street Reflections

About the evening

The Kingston Historical Society hosted an evening panel discussion featuring stories of Main Street through the eyes of longtime residents. Led by Anne Zeman, the panel included

  • Sharon O’Donnell Hansan’s family owned and operated the Union Line Hotel.
  • George Luck, Jr., former Chief and 50-year member of Kingston Fire Department
  • Theresa Russo is a third generation Kingstonian.
  • Bob Brian, Kingston’s most popular native son and lifelong resident.
  • also scheduled was Kathy McCarthy, whose father, Lou Sincak, was one of Kingston’s barbers for over 50 years. Anne shared some of Kathy’s memories at the end of the evening.
Postcard of Kingston Main Street, early 1900s (KHSNJ collection)

Video of evening (90 minutes)

Good evening everybody;thank you all for coming
I’m Robert von Zumbush, president of the Kingston Historical Society.
I’d like to, first of all, thank the Kingston Volunteer Fire Company for letting us use this hall as they have so many times, we are very grateful to them…
The program this evening was organized by Anne Zeman…
Anne is a long time member and trustee.

Charlie Dieterich technical help and Tari Pataleo provided publicity. And our trusees present tonight: Tom Jacoby, Charlie Dieterich, George Luck Jr (our vice president), and Anne Zeman

Introduction, KHS President Robert von Zumbusch

This video is viewable here. It is hosted from archive.org’s website. We thank them for providing hosting for our video presentations. click on their “Columns” logo to download the presentation for later (higher quality) viewing.

A .pdf poster for the June 22nd event is available HERE

Volunteer!