Trumbull fair-goers take step back in time, into Orangeville jail

BAZETTA

In 1845, Orangeville got a jail. A marshal, who enforced the laws of the village in northeast Trumbull County, ran the jail and earned $25 per year.

The main purpose for the jail was to lock up vagrants and drunks, primarily the result of people coming into the town on the railroad, said Jeff Ford, who took over management of the jail during this year’s fair.

The jail, which last served Orangeville in 1968, has been at the fairgrounds since 1971.

But visitors were limited in what they could see of the inside of the small, wooden building, having to peer through chicken wire to see the two cells, the marshal’s desk and a few other items inside.

Ford, a member of the Vienna Historical Society, did some research this year to better explain to visitors the history of the building.

He also hurried over to the fairgrounds Tuesday after finishing his shift as a dispatcher and supervisor at the county 911 center so he could dress like an 1800s lawman and open the building for tours.

It’s the first time in a while that visitors have been able to “experience what they did in the day,” Ford said of walking inside and seeing the rough-hewn wood and see the conditions first-hand.

Children especially took the opportunity to step inside the marshal’s office and then into one of the cells, which are about six feet long by about 4 1/2 feet wide.

Read more about this historic relic in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.