EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region’s history coordinated by the Trumbull County Historical Society.

Braceville Township, which contains 15,004 acres in the southwestern part of Trumbull County, was founded in 1803 by Jonathan Brace, who came from Connecticut.

Following the Revolutionary War, land was gifted to the soldiers and many Revolutionary War soldiers are buried in the Braceville Cemetery. Before that, the land was occupied by American Indians from the Erie Tribe, the Delaware and the Massasuge, mostly roving hunters.

The Center of the World is located in the mid-southeastern portion of Braceville Township, a few miles from Leavittsburg. In the middle 1840s, Randall D. Wilmot moved to Braceville and established a grocery store at the intersection of Routes 5 and 82 on the banks of the Mahoning River.

Wilmot called the location of the store “The Center of the World.” Before coming to Braceville he had lived in New York where he called his store “The Beginning of the World.” After several years, he moved to Cortland, where he started another store calling it “The End of the World.” Wilmot was known to be rather eccentric.

The Center of the World covered bridge was built in 1827 and was located in Braceville at the intersection of state Routes 5 and 82. This bridge was unique in that at one time it had a hay loft. Travelers could obtain food and lodging from a nearby tavern and hay for their horses from the bridge loft. At the time, it was one of the oldest in the state. In 1934, it was replaced by a steel bridge.

Another interesting aspect of Braceville history is the Trumbull Phalanx, which was established in the area we now call Phalanx Mills. A socialistic colony known as the Fouriers was established in the year 1844 in search of a perfect social order in society. The theory was that people were to organize into families all working together towards attaining a higher social, physical, intellectual and spiritual life. After being hit with a flu epidemic and other complications, this unfortunately didn’t work out as planned and the group disbanded.

The first log schoolhouse was built in 1811 in Braceville Center. The students walked to school or were transported by horse and buggy. After that, eight more schoolhouses were built around the area. A new and bigger school was needed and in the fall of 1917 the new school was ready. The first graduating class took place in 1919. Many additions were later added. Unfortunately, the building no longer stands. The class of 1970 was the last graduating class. In 1971, the Braceville school district consolidated with Leavittsburg and is now called LaBrae.

Much of the above information was taken from the book “The History of Braceville Township” written by Grace Sells and published in 1976.