Kirkbride Potts, as a young bachelor, came to Arkansas by covered wagon from his home in Pennsylvania, with two families of slaves. He settled in an area south of the Arkansas River where he met Pamelia Logan, a member of a pioneer family. He later married her and they settled across the river in Pope County.
His first home was a two story log cabin, which became a mecca for early travelers. The Potts family had 11 children and Kirbride decided he would build a home befitting his station and his large family. In order to raise money, he tried his luck in gold mining. In the late 1840’s he made the first of three trips to the gold mines in California. During his first visit to the California Gold Rush, he decided his fortune wasn't to be made panning for gold but instead by selling beef to the miners. He returned a second and third time driving herds of cattle which he sold to hungry prospectors. Each trip took at least six months.
While Kirkbride was making his trips to California, his wife, children and slaves were building the current home. The molds used to make the bricks for all the chimneys in the house have been preserved. The picture below shows the brick molds. Some of the original window panes, which were shipped up the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers from New Orleans, are also still in place. The house was started circa 1850 and it took them until 1858 to complete.
