Centerville Centre Township Public Library

The history of the Centerville-Center Township Public Library is tied intimately with Centerville's desire to be the county seat of Wayne County. Wayne County was established in 1810. The events that made up the tug-of-war over the permanent location of the county seat became known as the Court House Wars. In 1811, Salisbury was chosen to be the county seat of Wayne County. It was chosen for its central location between Richmond and Centerville.

In 1814, Centerville made an attempt to move the county seat from Salisbury, but it was not until 1817 that the issue was resolved by an Act of the Indiana Legislature. By this time a great and growing animosity between the citizens of Salisbury and Centerville had arisen.

In 1821, a courthouse and jail were built in Centerville. In the few years that followed, Centerville citizens asked for a secure place to house prisoners. A certain element of Centerville society sought to secure Centerville permanently as the county seat of Wayne County. To this end they raised $80,000 to build a palatial home with a 20-cell jail attached. An ornate iron fence at an additional cost of $10,000 surrounded the jail and other courthouse square buildings

Finally, the Board of County Commissioners declared that the entire Courthouse Square consisted of useless buildings that were producing no revenue. Furthermore they said they were fire hazards. This future library building was sold for $1250.00 to Simon and Flora McConaha. It changed hands many times until 1924.

In 1924, the Trustees of Hiram Lodge #417 Free and Accepted Masons purchased the home. It was enlarged to the east under their ownership.

In 1997, the Library Board of Trustees purchased the building for the new home of the Centerville-Center Township Public Library. It was dedicated in December 1999.