Land Use
In 1966, the Donald Ranney farm, and, in 1978, the Glendale farm were given the "Century Farm" award. The award acknowledges 100 years of ownership of the same family.
Community
Kirby participated in the Take Charge Program, a McConnell Foundation Grant. The UVM Extension Service provided materials and facilitators to bring local people together to discuss the community's future. They quickly recognized the physical limitations to economic development, since only a small sliver of Kirby's land has frontage on a state highway. Consequently, committees focused on trails, agribusiness, and holiday/tourism and decided to take actions to create opportunities for local residents. A fall festival, held for the second time in October 1994, provides exposure for local craftspeople and serves as a community social event. A Christmas Social, also in its second year, provides another opportunity for neighbors to get together while contributing to local fund-raising efforts. The trails committee developed a map of fourteen existing local trails. Local vendors participated in the Kingdom Farmers Market in Concord. Kirby's volunteers have incorporated as the Kirby Community Action Council. The Council keeps the community informed about local issues and events via the Kirby Chronicle, a local newsletter that distributed its fourth edition in December 1994. The group hopes to initiate new activities every year. "It's like little lights going on here and there throughout Town", says one volunteer. The town activities provide a community focus that was lost when the local school closed. Future plans include a scholarship program for community service for local youth.
The first settler in Kirby was Major Benjamin Whitcomb, noted hunter and trapper.
In the 19th Century Russell Risley worked a farm in Kirby with his sister. He was well known for his Yankee ingenuity and his labor saving inventions. He used a trapeze to get from the house to the barn and ran a series of cables to carry the milk. He also was a self-taught artist and sculptor who covered his barn with charcoal sketches of local notables. He made carvings out of trees and fence posts. Risley and his sister lived like hermits and to keep people away he painted a large sign that said smallpox on his barn. John McClaughry of South Kirby was a former White House policy advisor in the Reagan administration. He has served in the Vermont House and Senate and has been the Kirby moderator for 22 years (1989). He is President of the free-market Ethan Allen Institute.
Schools
The school children of Kirby are part of the Essex-Caledonia Supervisory School District. There are presently no schools in the town of Kirby. The town pays tuition for both elementary and secondary students to attend any state approved school.
Note: This series is available courtesy of the Center For Rural Studies, a nonprofit, fee-for-service research organization which addresses social, economic, and resource-based problems of rural people and communities. We would like to thank them for the use of this information and would like to refer you to crs@uvm.edu for additional info or comments.
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