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History · Kingston

Kingston’s post office opened in 1882

Below: maps from 1935 on.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Kingston began

When was Kingston founded?

1882

The Kingston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 50144 years
Founding year: the first Kingston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Kingston’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kingston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kingston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kingston’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Kingston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kingston.

Read it all →

Jack Sheddon discovered silver in what would become the Solitaire Mine in 1882. Originally called Percha City, Kingston was surveyed the same year and soon had a population of 1800. Lillian Russell once performed here.

The Depression of 1893 curtailed mining activities in the area, though there was a brief resurgence during World War II. By 1952 however, most production had ceased.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kingston, 1882 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Kingston post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1957Post officeThe Kingston post office closes
By decade

Kingston, decade by decade

Today6 recent
View from Kingston June 122013View from Kingston June 12View from Kingston June 122013View from Kingston June 12Silver Fire - Evacuated resident returning to2013Silver Fire - Evacuated resident returning toJune 13 looking west from2013June 13 looking west fromJune 13 looking west from2013June 13 looking west fromThe road to2009The road to
On the map

Kingston on the map, 1935 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kingston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Kingston on the 1935 USGS mapKingston on the 1940 USGS mapKingston on the 1985 USGS mapKingston on the 1999 USGS map1935Hillsboro sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kingston.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Kingston had its own post office from 1882 to 1957.

Kingston
1882–1957
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Kingston Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Kingston’s history

What year was Kingston founded?

The Kingston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.