Traficant farmhouse being demolished in Greenford
Time has caught up with a century-and-a-half-old iconic landmark in the Valley’s political history.
According to county records, a demolition company has been granted a permit to tear down the Green Township farmhouse once owned by flamboyant former Congressman Jim Traficant. On Thursday the demolition was underway.
According to property records, Traficant bought the farm property on West South Range Road in 1987, with ownership transferring to relatives and currently owned by his daughter Elizabeth Traficant Chahine, and her husband, of Canfield.
Traficant, who served as Mahoning County Sheriff and 17th District Congressman, served a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted on charges of bribery and racketeering.
On September 23, 2014, Traficant was found pinned beneath a farm tractor in a barn on the property. He died several days later. The coroner ruled that Traficant's death was due to what he termed positional and compression asphyxia caused by the overturned tractor. Traficant was 73.
The farm is part of the ongoing legal battle between the Mill Creek MetroParks and property owners who are fighting eminent domain efforts as the park tries to acquire land to build Phase Three of a bicycle trail.
