Editing Kingston, New Hampshire (section)

===West Kingston===

West Kingston is located along the road to [[Danville, New Hampshire|Danville]], in the western section of town, southwest of [[Great Pond (New Hampshire)|Great Pond]]. Evidence of the early inhabitants was manifested by the construction of a log garrison house on the present Great Pond Road. This well-built house consisted of two large rooms downstairs and a huge open chamber on the second floor. In later years a small ell was attached to the north side. The historic house was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. The stone step at the main entrance and what must have been the "cellar hole" of this dwelling are still visible.

In the midst of an agrarian society, the [[charcoal]] manufacturing industry took root and became a major business in West Kingston. Charcoal was carried by horse-drawn wagons to the Massachusetts cities of [[Haverhill, Massachusetts|Haverhill]], [[Lawrence, Massachusetts|Lawrence]], [[North Andover, Massachusetts|North Andover]], [[Newburyport, Massachusetts|Newburyport]], [[Lowell, Massachusetts|Lowell]], and [[Amesbury, Massachusetts|Amesbury]], as well as to [[Exeter, New Hampshire]]. Some was sold by street peddlers to be used in homes for the purpose of kindling fires. A great deal was also used by the large machine shops and by the [[silversmith]]s.

Many individuals manufactured shoes in their small, one-room shoe shops. Such a shop stood until recently near the Thomas Page residence. Some people sewed shoes in their own homes. Unlike the large-scale factories of today, concerned with [[mass production]], these enterprises constructed the whole shoe, hand-sewing it with an artisan's touch.

A cooper shop on the Wadleigh Farm produced [[barrel]]s made entirely of wood: the staves were made of pine and hardwoods, and were bound with hoops of birch. Skilled workers made hooks to hold hoops together. When a sufficient number of barrels was collected, the men hauled them to Newburyport to be sold - probably to be used by fishermen in packing fish.