COLUMBIANA COUNTY Trail project to commemorate Civil War history

A building bought for a law library probably will house a county agency as well.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A major Columbiana County link to the Civil War will be highlighted through a project that's being undertaken in Ohio and other states.
Commissioners agreed Wednesday to support an effort that would mark the trail taken by Confederate Gen. John H. Morgan as he and his band marauded through four states before being captured just south of Lisbon on July 26, 1863.
The incursion, known as Morgan's Raid, marked the northernmost point reached by a confederate force during the war.
Atty. Timothy Brookes, an East Liverpool attorney and Civil War enthusiast, requested that commissioners adopt the resolution. The trail project will not cost the county any money.
Brookes is working with the Ohio Historical Society and the Ohio Civil War Trail Commission, a volunteer group, on the undertaking.
Funding for the project is being provided through the federal government and the Ohio Department of Transportation. It's unclear how much they're contributing.
Commissioner Gary Williams expressed hope that the trail will help draw tourists to the county.
Similar trail-marking efforts are under way in the three other states through which Morgan passed: Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.
Details on costs and marker locations weren't available Wednesday, although commissioners said they expect the markers will be at spots of interest regarding Morgan's path through the county.
Much of his course was along today's state Route 518, once known as West Point-Hanoverton Road.
Morgan and his band surrendered to area militia near where state Route 518 intersects with Black Road -- near the Wayne and Madison townships line -- south of Lisbon.
New county office
In other business, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the county is likely to move a county office into the top floor of a two-story former bank they recently purchased.
The first floor of the two-story structure will be occupied by the county law library.
It's unclear what office will go into the second floor, but one candidate is part of the county Job and Family Services, Hoppel said. The agency is in a cramped building off Market Street.
The county bought the former Consumer's Bank Building, 32 N. Park Ave., for $206,000 last month. A court fund will be used to pay for the purchase.
A private title company now leases the second floor. When that lease expires, the county probably won't renew it, making room for a county agency, Hoppel said. He was uncertain when the lease ends.