Jones Nursery/Nursery Place

Text

Historical marker #2599 tells the story of Jones Nursery, one of Kentucky’s earliest commercial nurseries, and Nursery Place, one of Clark County’s most historic homes, in Clark County, Kentucky.

Griffin Fauntleroy Jones, a nurseryman, horticulturist, and accomplished botanist, began one of Kentucky’s earliest commercial nurseries in the 1840s. The beginning of the nursery came after a business failure, as Fauntleroy acquired an ill-fated ropewalk and bagging factory in Winchester, which cost him a fortune. However, following this failed business venture, Jones became the most noted nurseryman in central Kentucky, selling fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs, and vines, as well as all sorts of fruits and berries. His mother gave him permission to plant the beginning of a nursery on a corner of the farm the family lived on. Many of the orchards in Clark and surrounding counties were supplied from Jones’ nursery. A complex, underground irrigation system was utilized to ensure the successful growth of plants in the nursery. The business flourished and the road used to reach the nursery still bears the name Jones Nursery Road.

Not only was Jones a well-known nurseryman, but he also learned other industrial trades making him one of the most enterprising citizens of his era. Jones ran a blacksmith shop, furniture business, and wagon factory. In his workshop, he made everything from picture frames and chairs to baskets, which he sold his produce in. Also, he was the postmaster of the Jones Nursery post office from August 9, 1850 to September 1859.

Nursery Place, a 1790s dogtrot log cabin, was enlarged to hold the nursery as the business continued to flourish. The ancestral home gradually grew into a fourteen-room residence. Nursery Place has been home to five generations of the Jones family. Fauntleroy and his wife Martha Jane Browning are buried in a small, fenced in cemetery located in the front yard of the house. Mrs. Joan Pursley, author of "Of Family and Place: A Memoir" and a fifth generation descendant of the Jones family, currently resides in Nursery Place.

Jones Nursery

Griffin Fauntleroy Jones began one
of Kentucky’s earliest commercial
nurseries. He sold fruit and
ornamental trees, shrubs, and
vines. Many orchards in Clark and
surrounding counties were
supplied from Jones’ Nursery.
Fauntleroy also ran a blacksmith
shop, furniture business, wagon
factory, and ran the Jones Nursery
post office from 1850 until 1859.

Nursery Place

Fauntleroy Jones (1816-1897) was a
nurseryman, horticulturist and
accomplished botanist. He moved
into a 1790s dogtrot log cabin
which was enlarged to fourteen
rooms. Nursery Place has been
home to five generations of the
Jones family. Fauntleroy & his
wife, Martha Jane Browning,
are buried in a small cemetery in
the front yard of the property.

This marker was dedicated on September 5, 2019.