  We analyse the poorly-studied open cluster King~1 in the second Galactic
quadrant. From wide-field photometry we have studied the spatial distribution
of this cluster. We determined that the centre of King~1 is located at
$\alpha_{2000}=00^{\rm h}22^{\rm m}$ and $\delta_{2000}=+64\degr23\arcmin$. By
parameterizing the stellar density with a King profile we have obtained a
central density of $\rho_{0}=6.5\pm0.2$ star arcmin$^{-2}$ and a core radius of
$r_{\rm core}=1\farcm9\pm0\farcm2$. By comparing the observed color-magnitude
diagram of King~1 with those of similar open clusters and with different sets
of isochrones, we have estimated an age of $2.8\pm0.3$ Gyr, a distance modulus
of $(m-M)_{\rm o}=10.6\pm0.1$ mag, and a reddening of $E(B-V)=0.80\pm0.05$ mag.
To complete our analysis we acquired medium resolution spectra for 189 stars in
the area of King~1. From their derived radial velocities we determined an
average velocity $\left\langle V_r\right\rangle $=-53.1$\pm$3.1 km s$^{-1}$.
From the strength of the infrared \mbox{Ca\,{\sc ii}} lines in red giants we
have determined an average metallicity of $\left\langle
[M/H]\right\rangle$=+0.07$\pm$0.08 dex. From spectral synthesis we have also
estimated an $\alpha$-elements abundance of $\left\langle
[\alpha/M]\right\rangle$=-0.10$\pm$0.08 dex.
