County Historical Commission to meet in Old Jail

County commissioners voted on Sept. 12 to allow the Young County Historical Commission to meet once a month and store records and artifacts at the 1921 County Jail in Graham’s town square. The county Historical Commission launched a fundraising effort last year to save the Old Jail from the wrecking ball. The commission is seeking a state grant to hire an architect and engineering firm to come up with a plan to use the 101-year-old building. Historical Commission Director Susan Smith told Commissioners that the 12 boxes of artifacts and two filing cabinets of historical scrapbooks and other records had to be relocated from the basement of the Post Office Museum, where they had been stored for about a decade because the museum was being refurbished. Ms. Smith said the commission also needed meeting space as a plan to meet throughout the county had been stymied by aging members’ health.

“A lot of our people aren’t able to travel so to be able to meet in Graham is beneficial to us,” she said, adding that the 60-year-old historical commission needed a place where “we have access to records when we need them and inventory control.” “We believe the reason we don’t have more records is that we have never had a place to store them,” she said.

Ms. Smith said the group was seeking donations to cover the cost of heating and cooling the building. Precinct 4 Commissioner Jimmy Wiley, who has opposed nearly all county spending on the structure, voted against allowing the group to meet at the Old Jail and instead suggested Ms. Smith contact Fort Belknap or the Graham library for meeting and storage spaces.

Mr. Wiley said problems with moisture at the Old Jail had destroyed paper documents stored there decades ago and made the concrete building less than ideal for storing historical items and records. “You have all these other places to meet where they won’t have these troubles,” Mr. Wiley said. “Why would you handcuff our constituents with more bills and more money going out for something you can store in a smaller storage place for this little bit of stuff.”

The vote on the issue was 3-1-1, with Mr. Wiley voting ‘no’ and Precinct 1 Commissioner Stacy Creswell abstaining.