Stephan & Martha Jones House

Stephan and Martha Jones House. Built c. 1840. One of the first three people to settle in Blue Island, Stephan Jones came here in 1836 and opened a wagon shop - a business he operated until his death in 1851. His shop was the farthest south in the new settlement, located at the bottom of the hill just down the way from Norman and Julia Rexford's "Blue Island House," the first permanent structure built at the top of the hill at what's now the intersection of Western Avenue and Gregory Street. Born in this house in 1841, their daughter, Eda Ann Jones, was the first female born to white settlers in Blue Island. , , The Jones family lived here until 1851, and in 1879 it was purchased by John and Henrietta Staffel who raised 7 children here. Staffel, an early member of Blue Island's village board, was also a wagon maker and repairman, starting his own shop in the same building used by Stephan Jones that once stood at the corner of Western and Canal. , , The oldest part of the house sits on its original 1840 sandstone foundation behind an elongated addition. The home's original front entrance was located at the east end of the narrow porch. This is the second-oldest remaining structure in Blue Island, second to the Wilson/Cooley house at 2626 Vermont Street, built in 1838., Historic Blue Island - Founded 1835.