Jonesburg, Missouri is home to a rich history dating back to the early 1800s as settlers began arriving from the East. This timeline represents what is publicly available via online sources.
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1820s-1860s
1829 – James Jones, arrives via stagecoach and settles here. He rents a room at a widow’s farm three miles northeast of High Hill.
1837 – James Duckworth build the first building – one-story house used as a saloon and trading post.
1850s – Slave dealers buy and sell slaves at auction in Jonesburg. Several farmers around the town grow tobacco using slave labor. Liggett and Meyers tobacco factory opens in here before later being relocated to St. Louis.
1857 – The North Missouri Railroad is built and reaches about two miles east of town. It was known as the “Y” lane road because of the shape of the tracks where engines could turn around. This station was used to haul wood to St. Louis. Henry Godfrey opens a blacksmith shop and later a livery stable in what will later become the Historical Society Building.
1858 – The townspeople agree to pay the railroad company to defray the cost of building a depot and side track. Along with the new train depot, the town needed a name. It was called Jonesburg after James Jones, the town’s first settler and newly appointed depot master. This same year, the post office is established and Jones becomes postmaster.
1861 – As the Civil War begins, Jonesburg has fewer than 200 inhabitants at the start of the Civil War. The first Union troops arrive in Jonesburg from the North in July.
1863 – Thomas H. Hess, a military man, shoots and kills Edward McCullom, a farmer, at Henry Godfrey’s blacksmith shop. Hess is exonerated and later would become the village postmaster.
1865 – When the Civil War ends, Jonesburg is still a small town of a few homes. John Stubbs and H.H. Camp form a construction partnership ad build more than 15 houses around the town for sale or rent.
1866 – Jonesburg opens its first public school to 48 boys and 60 girls. A separate school is opened for black students.
1870s-1900s
1872 – The first newspaper available in Jonesburg is the Montgomery County Leader.
1879 – The Jonesburg Free Press is established by Robert Rose and 13 weeks later the paper becomes the Jonesburg Journal under editor William Dyer.
1880 – Jonesburg’s population reaches 445.
1882 – Sue J. Rittenhouse acquires the Jonesburg Journal and expands the paper. Her son, Harry Rittenhouse manages the mechanical work of for the printing of the paper. The paper is published for 50 years until it is sold to the Montgomery Standard.
1900 – A stock pen is built next to the railroad to hold cattle, horses and pigs before they are shipped to market via the railroad. It was located on the site of what is now the city park.
1905 – A fire destroys most of the east block of businesses in town. Five years later, the west block would burn.
1907 – Jonesburg’s population swells to 600 and includes 125 homes, 40 businesses and six churches. The city’s first water pump is installed, and a volunteer fire department is organized. That year, Montgomery County passes a prohibition law restricting the sale of liquor.
1910s-2010s
1910 – Jonesburg gets its first telephones, and its first dental practice. Its population is now 456.
1916 – The first light plant is established by Jim Shelton, making electricity broadly available to the town for the first time. Shelton retained ownership of the company until selling it to the Missouri Edison Company in the 1920s.
1920 – Jonesburg’s population reaches 473.
1922 – The school expands to offer a four-year high school program.
1924 – The center block of businesses in town catches fire, and townspeople are able to put the fire out by getting water from the road water line near Highway 40, which was in the process of being built.
1961 – The city gets a second, larger fire truck, paid for by the rural fire protection association.
1980 – Jonesburg’s population grows to 614. The city encompasses 1.17 square miles.
2016 – CertainTeed Roofing opens a new $100 million facility in Jonesburg, bringing with it nearly 100 new jobs.
Today – Jonesburg is a popular stop for travelers along I-70 and is loved by more than 720 residents who call it home.