Frederic C. Adams Public Library
historic building in Kingston, Massachusetts, United States
The Frederic C. Adams Public Library is a historic library building at 33 Summer Street in Kingston, Massachusetts. Designed by Joseph Everett Chandler (1864–1945), a major proponent of the Colonial Revival style, the library was built in 1898 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The building ceased operation as a public library in December 1994, when the town opened the new Kingston Public Library at 6 Green Street.
Description and history
The Adams Library building is located in Kingston's village center, on the east side of Summer Street (Massachusetts Route 3A) at its junction with Green Street. It is a 1-1/2 story masonry structure, with a gabled roof and walls of brick with stone trim. The main facade is five bays wide, with a dentillated cornice and a stringcourse of stone at the top of the windows and entry. The entrance is framed by wide sidelight windows and sheltered by a four-column Corinthian portico. Windows are set in recessed panels with splayed keystone lintels and a half-round blind arch above.
The Kingston Public Library's organizational history dates to 1871, when the Kingston Library Association was founded. Its collection was held in a local retail establishment, and in 1890 fundraising began for the construction of a dedicated facility.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Frederic C. Adams Public Library” as historic building in Kingston, Massachusetts, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as historic building in Kingston, Massachusetts, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5496991. Authority coordinates are 41.996, -70.730. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864, 1945, 1898 and 2001.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Frederic C. Adams Public Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Frederic C. Adams Public Library primary sources, Frederic C. Adams Public Library archive and Frederic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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This entry incorporates text from “Frederic C. Adams Public Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.