Many residents of Claiborne County may not realize that we have an Historical and Genealogical Society and what we have been doing lately. I am writing this to get past members up to date and to let the citizens of the county know as well.

We at the society are dedicated to preserving and educating the public about the history of our county as well as providing research resources and assistance in tracing family trees in the area. In the past 2 years we have been concentrating on getting our offices up to speed and I am proud to report that this has been accomplished and we are operational. We do not have funding for a full time staff yet but we hope to in the future. The phone number to our office is (423) 526-5737 and we will try to respond to questions left on our voice mail as soon as possible.

In the past year we have attended the reenactment of the battle of Cumberland Gap a well as the battle of Tazewell. At these events 1 was happy to see a great interest from the public as well as several of our members from out of state come. We are publishing our quarterly newsletter, "Reflection'' and delivering these to our members in over 20 states. Several of these members have been encouraged to come to the area and research their families and have come here to enjoy what Claiborne County has to offer.

Many people do not realize what that brick building beside 1st Century Bank in Tazewell is. It is actually the Claiborne County jail built in 1819. It the oldest remaining free standing jail in the state of Tennessee and is actually one of the oldest jails left in the United States. It was in operation from 1819 until 1932 when the jail was moved to the 3rd floor of the new county courthouse. After that it was used for a short time as a candy store and finally as a storage area for the county. It is in a serious state of neglect and we have tried for 4 years to get grant money from the state in order to begin restoration. We have had preservation architects come and evaluate the building and the estimate 1st phase of the restoration will be approximately $ 100,000. Of this amount the historical Society will have to raise a 40% of it to qualify for the grant money. We have raised a portion of it from curtail tours and money that was donated to us from the county but there is still a ways to go to get the ball rolling. The need for members and volunteers to help clean the jail up inside and out is very important and needed desperately.

This fall we are organizing presentations by several of our members and local historians. These will be focused on local, state, and national topics varying from the civil war to early settlement. We plan to begin these in September and have 1 per month. Also this fall we plan to have a history fair which will include a Civil war encampment presentation and artifacts on display in the area of the building which we are hoping to open as the new Claiborne County museum. We are still in the planning stages of this event and will get out a firm itinerary as soon as we can.

There are a lot of events planned to bring people to our county. This is not the Historical and Genealogical Society of the past. We are dedicated to bringing the past alive and to let people know about Claiborne county. The subject of history, especially local history, is woefully under emphasized in schools today. We need to keep the rich history of this county alive for the next generation and we need your help to accomplish this. The Historical Society is publicly funded, relying on donations from the County and it's citizens. The county has been gracious enough to grant us operating money for years but with present financial considerations this may be cut so we will have to rely on the public donations and membership fees more. I don't mean to make this sound like a plea for money because I understand that times are tough on everyone but we don't only need money, we need you. We need people to help with clean up of the "Old Jail'' and to help out with the events we have planned. lf you have an interest in history and a little time to spare please contact us and let us know we would be glad to have mu. The Claiborne County Historical society is meant to be for all the citizens of this county not just a few.

Kevin Wolfe - CCHGS President