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

Kingston Inns and Taverns 2022

George Luck, Jr. led a well attended but abbreviated tour of taverns and tavern locations in Kingston, NJ on May 21st.

George Luck explains the history of the Union Line Hotel

George Luck, Jr. led a well attended but abbreviated tour of taverns and tavern locations in Kingston, NJ on May 21st. We were able to capture video of some portions of the walk, and will be editing them together for posting on this website.

Although the walk was shortened, George did agree to answer further questions in air conditioned comfort at Eno Terra Restaurant on Route 27 near the Kingston Lock. The building was actually intended to be the final stop on the tour, having been Fisk’s Store, Feldman’s Store, The Kings Inn, and the Winepress Restaurant before being converted to Eno Terra. We thank the owners and staff of the restaurant for their hospitality.

We will create another event in the future to share more of George’s research. We will post the video when it is available.

George Luck, Jr. answers questions after the walk

Volunteer!