History of Kingston, Rhode Island
Kingston is an unincorporated area|unincorporated village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island in the United States. The area known as Kingston is about 1.6 square miles in size, with a population of slightly over 5,000 (as of 2002). Kingston sits at 252 feet above sea level at Latitude: 41.48 N, Longitude: 71.53 W.
Kingston is the home of the University of Rhode Island and the Kingston Azalea Gardens. West Kingston is located on Amtrak|Amtrak's Northeast Corridor with the historic 120 year old Kingston Station.
The village was originally called Little Rest, but was renamed Kingston in 1826. It was the county seat for Washington County, Rhode Island|Washington County (formerly Kings County) from 1752 until 1894.
Kingston's architecture (Federal, Greek Revival, Late Victorian) recalls its heyday as the county seat. Several of Kingston's historic buildings have been converted to new uses. The Kingston Free Library was once the county court house; the Rhode Island General Assembly met there in (alternating with the county seats in Newport and Providence) from 1754 until 1852. At the Little Rest court house in March 1790, Rhode Islander's rejected voting on the U.S. History of the United States Constitution|Constitution, only to ratify it by a narrowest margin of any of the original 13 states (34-32) at a convention in Newport three months later. The Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, founded in 1958, is in the former county jail. Other historic buildings in the village are open to the public. South Kingstown established the Kingston Historic District in 1959, and much of Kingston village became a National Register Historic District in 1974.
The University of Rhode Island was established at Kingston in 1889 as the Rhode Island Agricultural College, by funding from Hatch Act of 1887|The Hatch Act of 1887. The Agricultural School became Rhode Island College in 1909 and the University of Rhode Island in 1953.
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