William R. Kirby Sr. House

The William R. Kirby Sr. House (also known as the Kirby–Keefer House) is a private house located at 377 State Road in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1979[2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1] It is one of the few early cobblestone houses extant in Michigan.[2]

William R. Kirby Sr. House
Location377 State Rd.
Nearest cityHillsdale, Michigan
Coordinates41°55′36″N 84°34′41″W
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built1845 (1845)
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.82002836[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 20, 1982
Designated MSHSJune 15, 1979[2]

History
William Kirby Sr
Hannah Kirby

William Kirby Sr. was born near Leeds, England in 1805.[3] He married Hannah Sykes, and the couple emigrated to the United States in 1827.[4] After living in New York and Ohio, in 1835 they moved to Hillsdale County to homestead,[3] one of the first families to settle in the area.[2] In the 1840s, William and Hannah constructed this house.[2] It took three years to gather the cobbles used in construction.[5] Hannah Kirby died in 1876 and William in 1888, by which time their homestead had grown to 240 acres.[4] The house was eventually passed on to William Kirby Jr.[3]

The house was later owned by Robert Keefer.[5]

Description

The Kirby House is a two-story Greek Revival with a gable roof and single story additions on the side and rear.[2] The house is constructed of fieldstone faced with parallel rows of cobblestones, with cut sandstone quoins, lintels, and sills.

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Kirby, William R. Sr. House". Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  3. Crisfield Johnson (1879), History of Hillsdale County, Michigan: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Everts & Abbott, p. 228
  4. Elon Galusha Reynolds, ed. (1903), Compendium of History and Biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan, A.W. Bowen, pp. 156–57
  5. JoAnne P. Miller. "The Will Carleton Poorhouse - In the Beginning". Hillsdale County Historical Society. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.