Jira Payne House / The Smith-Kimball Family

This Greek Revival house was built around 1840 by Jira Payne, owner of the Atlas sawmill. The twin fluted Ionic columns, flanked by square Doric piers, were hand hewn from trees on this property. Emil Lorch, professor of architecture at the University of Michigan from 1906 to 1936, called the portico “one of the most monumental in Michigan.” Owned by the George Pomeroy family from 1848 to 1858, the house, known as Pomeroy Hall, was a center of social life in Clinton. The Smith-Kimball Family In 1862 John Smith, a Clinton merchant and community leader, purchased this house where he lived until his death in 1886. Smith’s son Edwin and daughter-in-law Euphania resided here with their daughter Blanche and her husband, Leander W. Kimball. In 1891-92 they remodeled extensively by adding second stories to the wings, and stained glass windows. After Leander Kimball died in 1955, Blanche donated the property to the residents of Clinton for use as a community center.