Hamilton Holiday Kids Parade
Truancy Court in Butler County
2009 Ohio State football
Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > July > 06 > Entry
The good people of Jacksonburg
If you’re going to lock your keys in your car on accident, I would not advise doing so in the smallest village in the state of Ohio. There is no police department in Jacksonburg, no locksmith, no one for miles in any direction.
Luckily, I had just interviewed two guys from the volunteer fire department. I asked if they had a “slim jim,” The answer was no, but they offered to use the jaws of life and not only get into my car, but also make it a convertible.
Ultimately, the two firefighters and one township utility worker spent half an hour with coathangers and a noose of twine trying to help me unlock the door. It didn’t work, and my wife had to drive out with a spare key, but I am grateful that they put so much effort into trying. Thanks, guys.
Here is the resulting story (read the much longer story here):
JACKSONBURG — Driving through Jacksonburg takes only a few seconds. And it would be easy to do so without realizing you had been there.
The center of town is the village’s only intersection. There’s a stop sign. No light. One corner is where a gas station used to be before it was torn down a few years back, according to the locals. On another sits the empty storefront of Marcum’s Carry Out, which closed more than three years ago.
But the village has a proud heritage, a peculiar distinction and a bucolic character that makes its residents — all five dozen of them — proud to call Jacksonburg home.
Signs welcoming visitors to Jacksonburg — you can see all of the signs from the center of town — tell its place in the record books.
“Welcome to Jacksonburg,” they say. “Ohio’s smallest incorporated village.”
Despite a population of only 67 people, the village has a village council. The six council members and the treasurer come from only four families.
“Our meetings don’t last long,” said Mayor Michael Sword.
The village has grown over the years. Before the 2,000 U.S. Census, the welcome sign listed the population as 52.
But at one time, Jacksonburg was a boomtown rivaling Middletown.
These days, most residents are happy to keep it small, including John Smith, who lives with his sister, her son and her grandson on the edge of town, which is only four houses from the center of town.
The four make up just over one-sixteenth the village’s entire population.
“We don’t have a lot of trouble like you do in big cities,” he said.
His sister Pam Gabbard agreed.
“I love it because it’s quiet,” she said.
But Ethan Gabbard, 4, disagreed.
“Not over there,” he said, pointing next door. “Because their dog is barking.”
And if that’s the worst of their concerns, Ethan’s father said, he’s happy with that.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County
Comments