Frederic C. Adams Heritage Center

                                                                                                    Summer Street, Kingston Massachusetts 02364          

Building on a cultural legacy to keep Kingston's history alive!

The Frederic C. Adams Heritage Center

The need for a public library in Kingston had been identified as early as 1871, when the Kingston Library Association was organized to provide library services to the Town. Early efforts resulted in the collection of some 1,850 books for distribution to the local populace. In 1888, the Massachusetts legislature created the Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts of 1888, Chapter 304. This Act required towns that raised or appropriated money for the support of a free public library to elect a board of trustees for management of the library properties and funds.

In 1890, the "Lend-a-Hand Club" was established to raise money to erect a free library for the Town: most of the members were school children who staged "entertainments" to generate library funds.

Through the will of Frederic C. Adams, the Town inherited the money for the construction of a public library in 1895. Mrs. George T. Adams, Frederic's sister-in-law and Horatio Adams, his nephew, donated the land on which the library was built. The Town engaged Joseph Everett Chandler of Plymouth and Boston to develop the plans and specifications for the new library building. Local dignitaries dedicated the Frederic C. Adams Public Library on August 4, 1898.

In 1965, the Town authorized the expenditure of funds to construct an addition to house the young people's collections. The Trustee's Room at the rear of the building was converted to a circular stairway leading to the lower level.

By 1994, the Library had outgrown its space. In that year operations at the Frederic C. Adams Public Library building were discontinued and the Library moved to a newly renovated facility across the street. The building was then used for Town department offices until the new Town House was completed in 2003.

In June of 2001, the Frederic C. Adams Library was accepted by the national Park Service Department of the Interior for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

 
Adams Building, 1994.

The Frederic C. Adams Heritage Center Development Committee

In the fall of 1999, the Kingston Board of Selectmen established the Frederic C. Adams Heritage Center Development Committee. The Committee consists of representatives from the Historical Commission, Master Plan Implementation Committee, Cultural Council, the Kingston Public Library, two citizens-at-large, and the Town Planner.

The Committee was successful in completing a pre-development study by Turk Tracey and Larry Architects, LLC of Portland, ME in 2001. Funding for this study was provided with matching grant funds from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund (MPPF) through the Massachusetts Historical Commission, funds from the Elizabeth B. Sampson Memorial Fund and Town Meeting. Due to insufficient restoration funding, the Committee is in the process of implementing a "scaled-back" version of Phase I of the project that entails plans, bid documents and repairs of the roof and drainage.

© All rights reserved. Town of Kingston, Frederic C. Adams Heritage Center Committee. For more information please write to the Friends of Kingston Heritage, Post Office Box 129, Kingston Massachusetts 02364.