KIRKSIDE AND KIRKSIDE PARK
In 1865 Liberty Preston, whose first wife was Betsy More, built the frame house that is now known as Kirkside, and is located next door to the Jay Gould Memorial Church. Shortly after the church was built, in 1894, Miss Helen Gould bought the Preston home, which at that time belonged to Otis Monroe Preston.
Miss Gould bought the house for a summer home, and she gave it the name of Kirkside. At that time the house was a modest dwelling, but Helen Gould completely remodeled the house, enlarged it, improved the grounds, and eventually developed Kirkside Park. After her marriage to Finley J. Shepard in 1913, she spent more time at Kirkside and continued to improve the Kirkside estate.
Since the
deaths of Helen Gould and her husband, Kirkside has been made a special
memorial to her. The grounds have been the site of many JMA events over
the years and most notably the 1915 "More Roxbury Pageant."
The pageant was given by the citizens of Roxbury and members of the More
family in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the John More Assocaition
and was held on September 3, 1915. The pageant was filmed in black and
white with no audio. A DVD of the
pageant is currently for sale.
Location: On
Main Street next to the Jay Gould Memorial Reformed Church in Roxbury,
New York.
