The Future of Jonesburg

In 1872, Fred W. Jones formed a company to quarry stone and marble from Becraft Mountain. The company was called the New York Coral and Shell Marble Company. Between then and his death in 1901, in addition to building his "mountain railroad" through South Bay, which evolved into what is known today as the "causeway," Jones created a community known as Jonesburg. The principal elements of Jonesburg seem to have been his own house, originally the Peter Van Deusen homestead, on the west side of Route 9 just beyond Ten Broeck Lane, and the row of houses he built for his workers directly across the road.

Recently, Gossips was alerted to the fact that the entire row of houses along the east side of Route 9 was vacant and each house had a notice posted on the door. The situation prompted the question: Were these examples of 19th-century worker housing to be renovated or demolished?

Last week, Gossips journeyed out to Jonesburg to investigate and discovered that the notice posted on each of the doors was a building permit. It would appear that all the houses are going to be renovated.

COPYRIGHT 2015 CAROLE OSTERINK

Correction: Gossips was wrong about these houses. They were not built by Fred W. Jones for his employees, nor were they built in the 19th century. They were built by the Ten Broecks, probably in the early 20th century, after Jones, who died in 1901, was already dead. At one time the stand of houses was known as Ten Broeck Row.