Kerby was pretty much Kerby by 1850 with a population of around 500 which it never exceeded.
The mining of gold was its principal mineral although it had
some success with others such as quicksilver, iron, cobalt and
ilmenite. The town still has a few buildings standing and maybe
a resident or two. In it heyday years ago, the courthouse stood
in the shade of a huge oak tree which still stands. Convicted
prisoners were removed from the courthouse, hustled outside and
hung. No waiting. SUBMITTED By: Henry Chenowith
Kirby still has many residents. The only remaining original
buildings are a grange building built in 1889, the old school
house and a miners cabin and a house built in 1871 by the Naucke
family who owned the general store. The hanging tree mentioned
in previous writing became rotten and fell in 1964 according to
museum staff.
The school house was moved to its current
location next to the Kirbyville museum in the hope of preserving
it. The old miners cabin also on the museum property was built
in 1834 and moved to its current location in 1982 by a local
construction company also to preserve it.
