Description of Historic Place

Jones Building is a three-storey brick Italianate-Style commercial building with a car port in the lower level. It is located on Canterbury Street in the City of Saint John.

Heritage Value

Jones Building is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for the businesses that have occupied the premises.

Jones Building is a three-storey brick Italianate-Style commercial building with a car port in the lower level. It is one of a collection of commercial, Italianate and Second Empire buildings that were built between 1877 and 1881 after two thirds of the City of Saint John was destroyed by the fire in 1877.

Jones Building is recognized for T. R. Jones, S. Hayward and Company, and OBrien Motors. T. R. Jones started for himself in 1849 as a retail dealer in clothing and furnishing goods. He lost heavily in the Great Fire but built this building and continued his business here until the early 1890's. S. Hayward opened his own country store. In 1870, he was junior member of Warwick, Clarke, and Company. He later bought Warwick and Clarke out and owned this company solely. About the year 1900 he occupied this building and had a large wholesale hardware business until the early 1930's. In the 1930's, O'Brien Motors moved into the building. It was a sales and service operation for Chrysler and Plymouth vehicles. The building was altered and a three storey interior ramp that allows you to drive to the top floor of the building was implemented.

Jones building was recognized in the City of Saint John Preservation Areas Bylaw in 1982.

Source: Planning and Development Department-City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe this industrial building include:
- building's height and width proportions;
- window proportions and placement;
- 6 over 6 vertical slide segmented arch windows;
- wider than the other industrial buildings in this vicinity;
- elongated fascia board under modest storefront cornice;
- historic brick surface;
- same set back as the buildings to the south;
- roof-line cornice rises above side walls.