Kirk

Duane's take

The marker in Limestone County tells it this way, and I'm just passing it along. Now, settle in, because this is the kind of story that starts with wide-open promise and ends with a quiet cemetery and a handful of houses standing watch over what used to be. That's Kirk, Texas — and it's worth knowing how it got there and where it went.

Settlement began out here in the 1870s and 1880s, folks putting down roots in that stretch of Limestone County, calling their little gathering of souls Elm Grove. A decent enough name, but names have a way of changing when commerce arrives. In 1887 a post office was established, and whoever was doing the naming decided to call it Kirk — for a local merchant by the name of Jepitha N.

Kirk. The first man to sort and hand out that mail was William Hume McKnight. Now, before the post office even opened its doors, the community was already laying the groundwork for something lasting.

Back in 1884, G. W. and M. J.

Swafford donated land for a school and a cemetery — which tells you something about how practical-minded these folks were. Plan for learning, plan for the end, and everything in between will sort itself out. Then in 1887, William M. and Annie J.

Jacobs sold adjoining land for the graveyard, for a school, and for churches in Kirk. The place was building itself up from the ground, piece by piece. And build it did.

At its peak, Kirk was a thriving community of several hundred people. We're talking homes, businesses, churches, a post office — and not just the basics, either. Kirk had cotton gins humming, fraternal organizations meeting, and a telephone exchange connecting folks to the wider world.

In 1911, they put up a two-story school right here on this very site — six classrooms, two floors, the kind of building that announces a community means business. Then in 1927, the community wasn't finished yet. Led by school board president W.

C. Curry and school principals Vernon Evans and J. B.

Brown, Jr., Kirk built itself a large gymnasium and community hall just north of the school. Folks around here called it the Community House, and you can almost hear the dances, the meetings, the voices of several hundred people who believed this place had a long future ahead of it. But then the 1930s arrived, and with them the Great Depression.

Kirk began to decline. By 1942, the last class graduated from Kirk High School — and that's the kind of sentence you have to let sit for a moment. The last class.

In 1952, the Kirk School consolidated with schools in Mart. One by one, the things that made a community a community slipped away. Today, only a few homes and the cemetery remain in the area — that cemetery the Swaffords donated land for way back in 1884, still there, still keeping faith with everyone who built something here and called it home.

What the marker says

Settlement began in this area in the 1870s-1880s. A community here, originally called Elm Grove, became known as Kirk when a post office established in 1887 was named for local merchant Jepitha N. Kirk. The first postmaster was William Hume McKnight. In 1884 G. W. and M. J. Swafford donated land for a school and cemetery. William M. and Annie J. Jacobs sold adjoining land in 1887 for the graveyard, a school, and for churches in Kirk. At its peak, Kirk was a thriving community of several hundred people and included homes, businesses, churches, and a post office. It also contained cotton gins, fraternal organizations and a telephone exchange. A two-story school containing six classrooms was built in 1911 at this site. In 1927 the community, led by school board president W.C. Curry and school principals Vernon Evans and J. B. Brown, Jr., built a large gymnasium/community hall (known locally as the Community House) just north of the school. Kirk's decline began with the great depression of the 1930s. In 1942 the last class graduated from Kirk High School, and the Kirk School consolidated with schools in Mart in 1952. Only a few homes and the cemetery remain in the area. (1997)