The Kirby House

Thomas Kirby, the founder of Kendrick, built this showcase six bedroom home in 1889.  In May 1890, Kirby on the basis of a guarantee that the Northern Pacific Railroad would extend its track to Kendrick gave the railroad a deed to one-half of the new town.  To sweeten the railroad deal Kirby named the town Kendrick in honor of the railroad’s chief engineer, John W. Kendrick.  Kirby continued building the community as a founding father by platting Kendrick, serving as the first Postmaster from 1889—1890, selling real estate in Kendrick, and in 1893 Kirby built a hardware store.

The Kirby House, no date, courtesy of the Juliaetta-Kendrick Heritage Foundation.

The Kirby House (as it has become known) was built in the late Victorian and Queen Anne styles.  The windows and doors contained colored and stained glass.  Ornate woodwork and door knobs decorate the six bedrooms.  Ornate Gingerbread trim was used along the roof and porches.  The outer door knobs are constructed of solid brass. 

The Kirby House, no date, courtesy of the Juliaetta-Kendrick Heritage Foundation.

In 1900, M.C. McGrew, who owned McGrew & Carmean Wholesale & Retails Merchandise General Store, purchased this house and added four rooms onto the house.  Following the 1904 Fire, which burnt McGrew’s store, Henry E. Wessels purchased the house.  Four years latter N.B. Long, another general store owner, bought the house and in 1909 moved his family from Leland into it.  The Long family added a laundry room onto the house in 1910 and brought electricity into the home in 1914.  These were only the beginning of the many renovations that the Long family made to the house over their extensive time in this house.  The Long family came home to this house for 83 years.  Until Mrs. Marvin (Martha) Long, the wife of N.B. Long’s son, died in 1992 the Long family called this house home.

References

Juliaetta-Kendrick Heritage Foundation

Otness, Lillian W. A Great Good Country: A guide to Historic Moscow and Latah County, Idaho. (Moscow: Latah County Historic Society, 1983), 155.


Stephens, Shirley and Susan Paras. United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. Pullman, WA, May 8, 1998.

The Kirby House, no date, courtesy of the Juliaetta-Kendrick Heritage Foundation.