Trenton's 1928 Jail Is Becoming a Museum. Its Fall Festival Lets You Walk the Cells First.

Lee Irwin bought the old Gilchrist County jail in 2021. He first thought about turning it into a haunted attraction. The more he learned about the building, the more that plan changed. "It kind of had a bad rep back in the day," he told WCJB this spring. "After getting the jail and starting to learn the history back in 2021, we were just inspired to save this."

Five years later, the building at 313 NW 2nd St. is partway through becoming a museum of local history. It doesn't have public hours yet. The 6th annual Historical Gilchrist County Jail Fall Festival is set for Saturday, October 24, from noon to 8 p.m., and admission is free. Two weeks from today, that's the most direct way to get inside the building while it's still mid-restoration.

The nearly century-old jail is one of two historic buildings in town where residents are making Trenton's fall calendar happen right now. The other is the 105-year-old Train Depot. Each one runs because a local person proposed something and stuck with it.

Eight cells that never got remodeled

The jail opened in 1928 and closed in 1968, according to WUFT. When the building went up for sale in 2021, the Gainesville Sun described it as an eight-cell building of about 2,000 square feet. The original cell doors, bunks, and bath fixtures were still in place.

The building has held no prisoners for more than half a century, and it still kept its working parts, and the restoration plan is designed to keep them. Irwin calls the structure a "time capsule." He told WCJB he doesn't plan to change the interior much. The goal is to restore it to the way it looked in the 1960s.

The festival listing leans into that history. It invites visitors to "travel back straight to 1928 and walk the same halls and walk into the same cells former inmates once did."

Where the museum project stands as of spring 2026

A museum has been in the works for years, but it moved forward this spring. WCJB reported in April 2026 that Trenton city commissioners had approved Irwin's site development plan, with conditions. Those conditions show what a 1928 jail needs before it can welcome the public on a regular schedule:

1. Moving parking to the rear of the property
2. Limiting access points to the site
3. Meeting fire safety and occupancy requirements
4. Revising blueprints
5. Adding concrete sidewalks
6. Making the site compliant with accessibility requirements

The first three were the commission's conditions. The last three were the next steps Irwin listed for the project. "It's been three and a half, four years we've been working together on what's best for the property, what's best for the city," he said.

The April report didn't give an opening date, a tour schedule, or regular hours. The museum is still a project, not a place you can visit any weekday. Irwin plans to run it on donations, and he has said its collection won't be limited to the jail. It's expected to include artifacts going back to the 1920s from around the area. He's asking for donations of Florida antiques and has called finding historical items one of the hardest parts of the project.

Part of his reason is that local records have gaps:

"There was a period where records were lost, so we felt inclined to find a way to protect and preserve Gilchrist County's history."

Irwin also told WCJB that the building was historically recognized "last year," in a report published in April 2026, and is now the only nationally recognized historic site in the city of Trenton. That claim comes from him. The report didn't name the register or the marker.

What October 24 looks like

The event listing calls this the sixth annual Fall Fest. It advertises new paranormal teams joining a "spooky zone," along with new vendors, food trucks, and live music. The paranormal angle has a long history here. When WUFT profiled the jail in 2015, under its previous owner, the building hosted a yearly Halloween open house, and paranormal teams booked investigations there. The festival keeps that part going while the museum plan is built around it.

A few practical details:

• Date and time: Saturday, October 24, 2026, noon to 8 p.m.
• Address: Old Gilchrist County Jail, 313 NW 2nd St., Trenton
• Cost: Free admission
• Details: The listing links to a Facebook post rather than an event page and doesn't name an organizer. Check with the organizers that day for the vendor and music lineup.

The parking change in the site plan matters here too. Approved conditions call for moving parking to the back of the property, but the April report didn't say whether that work is finished. Plan for some street parking on a festival afternoon.

The other old building with a standing date

The Trenton Train Depot was 105 years old when WUFT covered the market there in March. Like the jail, it fills up on its own schedule.

On the second Friday of every month, the Trenton Makers Market fills the depot with booths. Organizer Angie Barron told WUFT she had thought about it for years before it started in the summer of 2025. She pitched the idea to city commissioners, and they voted unanimously to approve it. The City of Trenton now hosts it every month. Her rule from the start was simple. "My plan was that I wanted a Makers Market strictly for handmade or homegrown items," she said.

The vendors are your neighbors. Barron sells her own quilts and embroidered pieces. She has quilted since age 12, when her aunt taught her. Her husband, Danny, brings boiled peanuts, which he calls the "Caviar of the South." At the other end of the depot, Kerry McGill and Angie Reim sell products ranging from goat milk to jellies. The March market drew just under 15 vendors, and WUFT reported that more makers ask to join each month.

The October market was last night. The next two are listed for November 13 and December 11, both from 4 to 8 p.m. The event poster lists the City's number, 352-463-4000, for questions.

The depot's own future is also being worked out. Our earlier piece on the depot at the Nature Coast State Trail's mile zero covered its pending transfer from state to city ownership, and the City of Trenton's homepage currently carries a notice about proposed property transfer legislation.

The fall calendar, start to finish

Hart Springs in Bell posts the Trenton market dates on its own calendar. It also hosts the season's two biggest outdoor events nearby. Put together, the next ten weeks look like this:

BBQ From the Hart is a cook-off with more than $5,000 in cash and prizes. To compete for the grand championship, teams have to enter all four meat categories: chicken, ribs, pork shoulder, and beef brisket. The day also includes food and craft vendors, a car show, and kids' activities. Christmas From the Hart covers the spring park in colored lights for one weekend in December.

The cook-off and the jail festival fall on back-to-back Saturdays, so late October has two free, all-day events one week apart. The jail festival is the only one of the five held inside a building that has no regular public hours. If Irwin's restoration keeps going as planned, the cells you see on October 24 should look much the same when the museum eventually opens. You'll just be seeing them before the signs and the donated antiques arrive.

Andy Mauldin is a Gainesville native who works with buyers and sellers across North Central Florida, Trenton included. If you own an older property in Gilchrist County and want to know how a site plan, a historic designation, or a change in use could affect its value, Guidelight Realty can walk you through it calmly and clearly. Schedule a Consultation whenever it suits you.