What an Event! Kim Kinney and the History of The Kinney Farm from 1794-2022 Written by Teresa Robinson (SHHS Member)) The South Hero Historical Society is back and Kim Kinney helped us get off to a glowing start with his humorous and detailed presentation about his family farm on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022 at the Worthen Library. Meticulously researched by Kim and most notably, his wife Linda, the properties at 212 South Street (west side) and at 189 South Street (East side) came to life! The standing room only crowd could picture Kim and his siblings rolling a ball in the original Kimball Kinney house built in the late 1700s at 212 South Street where Kim and his four siblings, children of Alan and Helen Kinney, grew up. The ball would only go one way because the house slants 17 inches from east to west as a result of the experienced carpenter mismeasuring the dimensions for the wall structures after a younger apprentice had measured them correctly. This building had a delightful summer kitchen which wasn’t heated in the winter but expanded the kitchen in the summer so 5 generations of Kinney moms could can the many vegetables and jellies that the farm produced.

212 South Street. Original Kimball Kinney farm started in 1794. Notice the U-shaped placement of the barns facing east so the cattle aren’t exposed to the winds. Picture courtesy of the Kim Kinney collection. Kimball’s son Alfred built the first house at 189 South Street. It later burned and his son T. L. Kinney built the present house. T. L. also built the state of the art fruit house that is still there today with collaboration from UVM extension. The apples were stored in the basement and the cool air would come in at night and the hot air would rise and go out the cupola on top. Apples were packed in barrels and sent to Boston and other cities by boat until the train came through in 1900.

T. L. Kinney’s state of the art air-cooled fruit house built in 1897 and still standing at 189 South Street. Picture courtesy of the Kim Kinney Collection. Horace Dewey Kinney purchased the farm from his father T. L. in 1917 and later in 1957 Alan Kimball Kinney, Sr. acquired the farm. Alan expanded the barn at 189 South Street and milked 40 head of cows. Kim reminisced about being a child and helping to cross the cows at South Street. He remembered having to stop the traffic both ways but nobody minded. They looked forward to seeing young Kim bringing up the rear after jumping on the back of the last cow! In 1973 Coop Insurance was available for farmers. Alan, Kim’s dad, was told the agency in Isle La Motte was closing. Might he be interested in taking it over? So Alan switched to selling insurance and he rented the farm to Tim and Jill Maxham and another group of kids grew up in the slanted house at 212 South Street! Alan moved the insurance office from Isle la Motte to the attached wood shed at the 189 homestead. He ran the agency until 1987 when he retired. Kim joined his dad in 1979 and ran the agency until 2017 when his two sons, Alan III and Drew acquired the family business. Also in 2017, Kim and Linda Kinney decided to renovate the farmhouse at 189 South Street and move into Kim’s ancestral home. Their pride in their heritage, their town, and being able to preserve their family homestead is unquestionably evident.

189 South Street. Ice house is located behind the farmhouse on the left. Alan Sr. added the very long cow barn in the middle after he took over the farm in 1957. Kim and Linda live there now. Picture courtesy of the Kim Kinney Collection. Three generations of Kinneys have owned the prosperous Kinney Insurance agency and now six generations of Kinneys have lived on the Kinney Farm. Kim has 7 grandchildren so it’s just possible the Kinney legacy will continue for many generations to come! We sincerely want to thank Kim and Linda for sharing their family journey.

Kim and Linda Kinney with an ice saw that was used to cut ice for the ice house on the Kinney farm at 189 and 212 South Street. Picture courtesy of Teresa Robinson. A new slate of officers were elected at the meeting for the 2022-2023 year. Dolf Wirsing will continue as president and is happy to announce that his board has quite a few ideas for future presentations.

Our historical society was not able to get together during the 2020 and 2021 pandemic. We had one program at the Worthen Library by Sue McBride Crowley talking about her father and grandfather's farm on West Shore Rd. We also were part of a group of people who worked on installing a sign down by the bike/rail trail causeway that talked about the history of The Island Line.