By Staff
Sisters' donated property now in Massey
Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
It was a community effort to relocate a part of Hartselle's history to the Massey community this week.
Sisters Rosemary and Rebecca Kirk recently retired and decided to move from Birmingham back into their home place in Hartselle-a home built more than 80 years ago by their grandparents, George Greek and Era Freeman.
"We've never broken our ties in Hartselle," Rosemary said. "This is just coming back to our real home for us. We were born in that house."
Next to the old homestead, a two-bedroom house was built in 1954 for the sisters' aunts, the late Mabel Freeman and Nyna Freeman.
Since the passing of the sisters' aunts and their parents, John and Hazel Kirk, Rosemary and Rebecca have been maintaining three homes for nearly three years, between their townhouse in Birmingham and the two family homes on High Street.
"We've been in the planning stages for about a year now deciding what to do with the three houses," Rebecca said. "No we're in the action phase."
The action began April 5 when Hollis Kennedy House Movers lifted the aunts' house and moved it to its new location in the Massey community. The move was a result of Rosemary's and Rebecca's decision to donate the house to Child Haven in Cullman. The organization then sold the house to Massey farmer Hal Lee.
Lee said he plans to renovate the house and keep it as a rental property.
Hartselle Utilities, Hartselle Police Department and the Morgan County Sheriff's Department were on hand for the house moving event that wound its way down High Street, Sparkman Street, and Highway 31.
"All the neighbors have been out to take a peek, too," Rosemary said. "It's been a real community event."
As for the Freeman house, Rosemary and Rebecca have hired contractor John Mitchell to make extensive renovations to the house they will once again call home. The sisters have placed their Birmingham townhouse up for sale.
"It should take about a year to be completed," Rebecca said. "We're saving bushes, shrubs, and rocks that have been here since our grandmother's time to reconstruct gardens behind the house. It should be a lot of fun."
The Kirk sisters are also compiling a scrapbook of the changes made to the houses and the homestead on High Street. They will rent a house a few doors down until the renovations are complete.