J.J. Kirk lived in an outside building when he moved to Everets in 1871. In addition to running a saw mill he also had a box factory and later made baskets. In 1875 he married Margaretta Godwin whom he had met at St. John’s Episcopal Church. The Kirk house was not complete when they married and they lived with the Minton’s for 5 or 6 months, spending their wedding night there. The house contained a kitchen and dining area in the basement. The first floor had the living room and one bedroom. The second floor had two bedrooms. The house was heated by stoves with a furnace in the basement supplying heat to the first floor. Their three children, Elizabeth, Russell, and Paul were born at Everets. In approximately 1880 an addition was constructed changing the functions of the original rooms. This addition contained a dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms. In 1904 Margaretta convinced John J. to move to Port Norfolk so she could be near her sister, Betty G. Corbell. Willie Saunders and his wife then leased the Kirk house and lived there when W.G. was born in 1905. They later built a house across the road. The Kirk house was vacant for a few years and the Kirks would come back for the summer by cart or, mainly, by boat from Port Norfolk. Russell and Stokes moved back in 1924 when Russell went in the cotton ginning business and later the lumber business. Merle and Arthur came in 1925. It must have been difficult to leave indoor plumbing and electricity! Another addition was made in 1950 at which time the 1880 addition was rolled on logs to its present location on Kirk Road. In 1979 Bruce Kirk, the present owner, completed renovation of the part originally built in 1875.
