Can anyone recommend an independent cable box that I can use with an old TV just to get local stations? The television is an older flat screen (19") and I don't want to have to pay a cable company for continual usage of their converter box.

If you hook to cable you meed to pay a cable company or your are committing a theft of services... and it doesn't matter whose cable box it is...

However if you use an antenna to receive broadcast channels there is no fees due.

You might need a Converter box to convert the over the air signal.. which in the USA is digital and is ATSC.. to NTSC (the old analog standard) . If you are elsewhere you need to find out what you local standards are and buy accordingly.