Kingston, MA originally was part of the Wompanoag tribal land. Shortly after the Mayflower landing in 1620, it was settled by Europeans as a part of Plymouth. It wasn't established as a town unto itself until 1726. Soon after settling in 1620, it started using it's resources such as the Jones River, Kingston Shoreline, farmland, and space for shipyards and mills, to its advantage. According to the US Census, it now has a population of 12,629 with 20.5 square miles of land. The population is 97.3% white, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, 0.8% from two or more races, and Hispanic or Latino of any race are 0.6%. As of 1990, not even a quarter of Kingston residents are English. There are more Irish than any other nationality, with Italian having a significant population as well.