EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region’s history coordinated by the Trumbull County Historical Society.
Braceville has a rich African American history and is believed to have been the largest rural African American community in Ohio at one time.
The community is known for its historic role in the Underground Railroad and a fresh start for many during the Great Migration. Braceville is also the birthplace of many notable African Americans such as the Negro League’s legend Ted Toles Jr., acclaimed author Brian Broome, distinguished deans Barbara Broome and Joyce Elmore, famous barbeque sauce “guy” and the home of boxing legend Randy Stephens and legendary World Heavyweight contender Earnie Shavers.
Braceville today is a rural community with an ever-changing landscape on its southern border. A variety of circumstances brought African Americans to the little township in Trumbull County.
Many of the early Euro-American Braceville settlers came to the area from New England and most were abolitionist and anti-slavery sympathizers. Reportedly, there were several Underground Railroad stations in Braceville. Today, three Underground Railroad stations remain standing in the greater Braceville community.
Some early Braceville African American settlers may have come as passengers on the Underground Railroad and remained in the community because they thought it to be a safe distance from Southern slave catchers who were sent to retrieve runaway slaves.
The majority of African Americans came to Braceville during the Great Migration in the early 1900s. A century ago, Braceville Midway Platt and Steel Industrial Allotment Subdivisions served as an initial location many African American residents once called home.
The Midway Platt and Steel Industrial Allotment subdivisions, more commonly referred to as “The Upper and Lower Lot” of Braceville, was established in the late 1800s or early 1900s by a few African Americans who mostly left the southern states of Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi and came north for better jobs and a better way of life for their families during the Great Migration.
Many of the early settlers were men with families who came north in search of work at The Newton Steel Company, which was approximately one quarter mile from the African American community. Newton Steel Company was hiring African Americans during this period. Property records, church history and oral accounts put many of the early African American settlers in Braceville about 1923.
Through the years, the African Americans suffered many hardships.
During the early 1900’s, African Americans could not get loans from local area banks, they could not buy property in the surrounding towns or cities, and they did not want to live in government housing. They wanted to own property and some families wanted to have gardens and livestock.
Area landowners with land that could not be farmed because it was swampy and flooded often sold the swamp land to the African Americans who wanted to build a home in the vicinity. The rural community of Braceville provided the environment that best suited the needs of our forefathers. The land flooded several times a year, the lots were only 40 feet wide, but the men bought the land anyway.
The early African American community in Braceville persevered by working together despite the challenges. The women would hold bake sales to raise money among themselves for the construction of their homes and the church. In turn, the church and most of the homes were built by the men in the evenings, after their shifts in the steel mill. The men and women came to Braceville as individuals, but through working together they built their own thriving little community.
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox