All posts by Susan Aprill
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Tax forms are coming!
We’ve ordered state and federal tax forms. We don’t know when they’ll get here, but when they do, we’ll let you know here.
Be aware that deadlines and requirements may be different than in the past (like way back in 1799, when Judah Washburn was taxed $3 for his two-person, one-horse chaise with a top).

Spring 2021 Author Talks
Our Spring 2021 Author Talks program runs from March to May. We’re excited to share this virtual series with you. Take a look at the complete list here, and sign up to join us.

Time-lapse of Kingston’s Waste Water Project
This is so cool!

Welcome 2021!
Source: Joseph Cushman Finney Papers MC11

Karaoke machine

It’s a Singsation! Use your cell phone and your favorite karaoke app to get that party started!
For extra added ambiance, get the disco light too.


For Veterans’ Day: Melvin Simmons

Naval Constructor Melvin Simmons, born in Kingston on April 19, 1806, served as Master Carpenter for the first steam (or screw) frigate the USS Merrimack. Launched in June 1855 from the Charlestown Navy Yard, she was christened by Simmons’ daughter Mary Elizabeth, then 23.
When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the US Navy burned the Merrimack, then trapped in Norfolk, to prevent her capture. A month later, the Confederates raised the hull, re-built her as the iron-clad ram CSS Virginia, and in 1862, sent her into battle with the Union’s iron-clad, the USS Monitor in Hampton Roads.
Simmons also served at Philadelphia Naval Yard, and ultimately returned to Charlestown as Naval Constructor in the Construction Corps of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Created in 1866, the Corps gave former civilian employees a formal rank in the US Navy.
Simmons’ son Frederick, then an unmarried clerk, was drafted into the Union Army in 1863. He served in the 35th Infantry, until his death on January 1, 1865 in Salisbury, North Carolina.
Melvin Simmons died in Charlestown on May 13, 1871, of apoplexy. He is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery beside his wife Mary A. (Chase) Simmons, who lived in Kingston at the time of her death on May 10, 1890.
Source: Glass Plate Negatives IC3, photo ID: peo-09-0747-gpn

Covid-19 testing sites


Projector & Screen

New things

We’re growing our Library of Things, and we want to know what you want to borrow.
Give us a call at 781-585-0517, or shoot us an email.
