Jonesboro

Fort Jonesboro (also known as Jonesboro, Jonesborough, and Old Jonesboro), established in 1813, was the first permanent pioneer settlement in Jones Valley. It was located about 3 miles southwest of Bessemer and 1 mile east of West Lake.

At the time of its founding, Jones Valley was part of the Mississippi Territory. Two men who had come south from Madison County, John Jones and his brother-in-law Caleb Friley blazed a wagon trail into Jones Valley from Bear Meat Cabin (Blountsville) and built a log fort, smithy and cabins. Soon, other settlers were attracted to the community.

Early merchants in Old Jonesboro included Hawkins and Earle, John Ayres, Mark Harris, John W. Bramlett and Ben McWhorter. William Rose Sadler erected a grist mill, and Thomas Sadler opened a tailor's shop. Hosea Holcombe settled nearby, becoming pastor of Canaan Baptist Church there in 1822. The church was founded in the home of Isaac Brown.

Pioneer settlers

• 1814: John Jones, Caleb Friley, Andrew McLaughlin, Samuel Fields, Isaac Fields
• 1815: Williamson Hawkins, Thomas Barton, William Cowden, James Cunningham, Jonathan York, John Brown, Isaac Brown, John Wood, James H. Wood, William C. Tarrant, Henry Tarrant, James Tarrant
• 1816: John Owens, Joseph Riley, Drayton Nabers

References

• Moss, Florence Hawkins Wood (1947) Building Birmingham and Jefferson County. Birmingham: Birmingham Printing Company.
• Brown, Virginia Pounds and Jane Porter Nabers, eds. (1970) Mary Gordon Duffee's Sketches of Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 081735011X