Your Guide to Buying a Home in Kingston, NH

Buying a Home in Kingston, New Hampshire

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Kingston is located in Rockingham County

And in white clapboard homes, shops and town buildings around the Plain, Kingstonians go about their daily activities. In this community-minded village, those activities most likely include participation - either as a planner or partaker - in volunteer-sponsored programs ranging from amateur theater and the historical society to free Monday lunches and Thanksgiving dinner for seniors, and the recent gala celebration of the town's 300th birthday.

This volunteer-powered town boasts an active recreation program for kids and adults, including summer day camps for preschool and elementary school-aged children, baseball, softball, Pop Warner football (with Raymond) and soccer. Kingston Community House organizes excursions for seniors as well as the lunches which attract more than 50 each Monday. The seniors' programs are supported by a thrift shop. Family activities include a Christmas tree lighting and Easter egg hunt for the little ones (both on the Plains), hayrides, bingo nights and craft workshops.

The Thanksgiving feast, started modestly almost 10 years ago by local restaurant owners, has grown to feed more than 125 at the Congregational Church. The local Lions sponsor an annual Cow Patty Land Rush, best described as a fund-raiser whose winner is determined by the location of a cow's "deposit".

By far the biggest volunteer activity in recent times was the town's week-long celebration of its founding in 1694. It was an opportunity to showcase its pride in Josiah Bartlett, the second to sign the Declaration of Independence and first governor of the new state of New Hampshire.

The name "Carriage Towne," used by several local enterprises, keeps alive the memory of Kingston's once-bustling carriage building industry. The town museum, a collection of four buildings, including the old fire house, displays one of the carriages, along with a horse-drawn hearse. It also includes an old cobbler shop and "tramp house," presumably a stopping off place for the homeless of the day or impoverished travelers where food, a warm fire and shelter were available. Pride in the area's original residents is engendered each fall during the high school's Indian Festival, which includes a parade of floats created by each class to represent the tribe they studied.

The non-denominational Church on the Plains is a favorite for local weddings made complete with a drive in a horse-drawn buggy (available for hire in town) and photos across in the bandstand on the Plains. The First Congregational Church, St. Frederick's Roman Catholic Church and the First Free Will Baptist Church are the spiritual centers in Kingston.

Two of the local schools are clustered at the eastern end of the Plains - an elementary school and the regional high school, behind the stately gate of the former Sanborn Seminary. The regional middle school is located a few miles south in Newton.

Kingston's lakes and ponds have encouraged development of camp and park activity, including the 44-acre Kingston State Beach and Park and two "Y" day camps. Boat launching facilities on Great Pond are open to residents and there's a town beach on Greenwood Lake. Rock Rimmon State Forest offers hiking trails, and for golfers, there's a miniature golf course and par-three course.

Outside the Plains and the village proper is Kingston's countryside, with a variety of housing, from old homesteads and new construction to converted lakefront cottages. Farms range from active horse farms to small cottage farms selling fresh eggs and produce.

Commercial activities are in small clusters, one in town, and the others along Route 125, where daily traffic brings a steady stream of customers. Nearby, the town maintains an industrial tract where a hot tub manufacturer and cement/rock operation have located.

Kingston is home to a number of restaurants; along Route 125 restaurant owners benefit from the commuter and tourist traffic. Along Route 111, through the center of town, the restaurants tend to be more family-oriented. For years, diners have come from miles away for meals at the popular Pond View Restaurant and the Kingston 1686 house, located in an historic house - on the Plains.

The Plains - that long, wide swatch of green that was the colonial center of Kingston - continues to be a center of activity and the visible, usable symbol of this community-spirited town.

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