George Irvine House

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Now, some people live a life that fits neatly in a paragraph. George Irvine was not some people.

This Scottish native came into the world in 1841, and he was still here in 1936. Let that sit with you a moment. The man watched history pile up around him like cordwood, which, as it turns out, was something of a specialty.

By 1886 he had built this two-story frame home, a proper Italianate place, for his family. That same George Irvine founded the Irvine Brothers Lumber Co., which later became the Belford Lumber Co., so when we say he knew wood, we mean it in every sense. And if running a lumber company wasn't enough to fill a week, he also served on the school board, the city council, and the vestry of Grace Episcopal Church.

Civic leader is probably too small a phrase for a man working that many tables at once, but it's the one the marker reaches for, and it'll do. Now, in 1922, Irvine sold this house to a man named Simon J. Enochs, who was the postmaster.

Enochs moved in, settled in, and then in the 1930s went ahead and made modifications to that original Italianate detailing. Whether he meant to improve on it or just couldn't leave well enough alone, the marker doesn't say, and neither will I. What the marker does say is this: a Scottish-born man built something in 1886 that was still standing, still worth naming, long after he was gone.

George Irvine, born 1841, died 1936. Some men build houses. Some men build something that outlasts a century.

George Irvine apparently had time to do both.

What the marker says

Scottish native George Irvine (1841-1936) built this two-story frame home for his family in 1886. The founder of the Irvine Brothers Lumber Co. (later the Belford Lumber Co.), Irvine was a civic leader who served on the school board, the city council, and the vestry of Grace Episcopal Church. In 1922 he sold the house to postmaster Simon J. Enochs, who made modifications to its original Italianate detailing in the 1930s.