Kingston is a village and a census-designated place in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the main campus of the University of Rhode Island. Much of the village center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kingston Village Historic District. Nearby West Kingston is the site of the historic 120-year-old Kingston Railroad Station, which is served by Amtrak on its Northeast Corridor. The village was originally called Little Rest, but was renamed Kingston in 1826. It was the county seat for Washington County (formerly Kings County) from 1752 until 1894. South Kingstown established the Kingston Historic District in 1959, and much of Kingston village became a National Register historic district in 1974 as Kingston Village Historic District. The University of Rhode Island was established at Kingston in 1888 as the Rhode Island Agricultural School and Agricultural Experiment Station, by funding from The Hatch Act of 1887. In 1892 the Agricultural School became the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts with funding from the Second Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890, later becoming Rhode State Island College in 1909 and the University of Rhode Island in 1951.