Posted: 1:18 AM - Mar 31, 2012
From The Winchester Star dated Thursday 15 Mar 2012.
By Melissa Boughton
WINCHESTER- As of Wednesday, visitors at the Joint Judicial Center have something new to gawk at as they enter and exit the building.
Thanks to the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, a more than 250-pound 18th-century jail door is now on view at the building at 5 N. Kent St.
City of Winchester facilities director Corey MacKnight said he decided to create a display under the judicial center's staircase after Cissy Shull, director of the historical society, called and offered to loan it out.
"It's a great piece," he said.
The door is from an old Frederick County jail that was located on the Public Square at the corner of Boscawen and Cameron streets, where Rouss City Hall is now located.
According to a plaque on top of the door, it was displayed for about 30 years at the "old country courthouse," after Trial Justice Alvin J. Tavenner bought it from a demolition contractor in 1938.
The door was saved again in 1974 when county employee Kenneth Loyd ignored an order to take it to a landfill.
More recently, Macknight said, the door was in storage.
"The good thing is, obviously, it's a part of history, and, you know, it's going to be on display forever now, not just sitting in a storage shed somewhere," he said.
On it's first day at the new location, the door was already a showstopper.
"It's capturing everybody's attention, everybody's stopping," Macknight said.
- Contact Melissa Boughton at mboughton@winchesterstar.com.
By Melissa Boughton
 Mike Ruion (left), owner of Vision Restoration in Winchester, and Corey MacKnight, City of Winchester facilities director, lift the door frame that they were preparing to install at the Joint Judicial Center. (Photo by Ginger Perry/The Winchester Star) |
Thanks to the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, a more than 250-pound 18th-century jail door is now on view at the building at 5 N. Kent St.
City of Winchester facilities director Corey MacKnight said he decided to create a display under the judicial center's staircase after Cissy Shull, director of the historical society, called and offered to loan it out.
"It's a great piece," he said.
 Corey MacKnight, facilities director for the City of Winchester, helps install an 18th-century jail door on Wednesday at the Joint Judicial Center. The door is from a Winchester jail that once stood at the corner of Cameron and Boscawen streets (now the site of Rouss City Hall). The door is on loan from the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. (Photo by Ginger Perry/The Winchester Star) |
According to a plaque on top of the door, it was displayed for about 30 years at the "old country courthouse," after Trial Justice Alvin J. Tavenner bought it from a demolition contractor in 1938.
The door was saved again in 1974 when county employee Kenneth Loyd ignored an order to take it to a landfill.
More recently, Macknight said, the door was in storage.
"The good thing is, obviously, it's a part of history, and, you know, it's going to be on display forever now, not just sitting in a storage shed somewhere," he said.
On it's first day at the new location, the door was already a showstopper.
"It's capturing everybody's attention, everybody's stopping," Macknight said.
- Contact Melissa Boughton at mboughton@winchesterstar.com.