A railroad town wrapped by Oklahoma City
Jones started out as Glaze. Luther F. Aldrich platted the townsite on April 22, 1898, and named it for Charles G. “Gristmill” Jones, Oklahoma City’s three-time mayor and his business associate. The St. Louis and Oklahoma City Railroad, later the Frisco, ran its Sapulpa line through town, and Jones incorporated on January 4, 1909. Cotton gins, dairies and implement dealers kept it going until jobs at what became Tinker Air Force Base helped turn it into a commuter town, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Today Jones covers about 13.7 square miles along NE 93rd Street, also called East Britton Road, roughly four miles south of Interstate 44. Oklahoma City surrounds it on three sides, and no major highway runs through town. By 2000, about half of employed residents commuted at least thirty minutes to work. Older landmarks include the site of State Center School, which opened in 1916 at Wilshire and Indian Meridian and closed in 1947.
Older homes than the neighbors
Jones grew slowly: 794 residents in 1960, 2,270 by 1980 and about 2,890 in 2020. Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put its median home at 1976, older than Choctaw or Harrah, and more than a third of the roughly 1,200 homes date from before 1970, including a sizable group from the 1950s. Houses that age can still have original galvanized supply pipe, cast iron drains and outdoor spigots that have frozen more than once. They also tend to have small water heater closets and gas piping sized for the appliances of their day, which matters when you upgrade.
Town water, town sewer and town gas
Jones runs more of its own utilities than you might expect. Public Works maintains the town’s water wells and all water mains and piping up to the customer’s meter, the wastewater mains from customer taps to the treatment facility, and the natural gas system, including gas mains, service meters, and leak and odorant surveys. Water is tested monthly through DEQ. The dividing line matters when something goes wrong: the town handles its side of the meter or tap, and the pipes on your side are the homeowner’s.
EPA records list the town water system as groundwater serving about 1,700 people, so a good share of Jones households, many on larger lots, rely on private wells and septic systems instead. A private well is the property owner’s responsibility, and the CDC’s yearly testing list starts with coliform bacteria and nitrates. Any new or altered septic system needs DEQ’s Authorization to Construct before work starts. Our gas line repair and leak detection and underground water line repair cover everything past the meter.
The North Canadian, oak ground and ice
The North Canadian River winds through the far northeast corner of Jones, and the town sits in the Cross Timbers, where post oak and blackjack oak grow on sandy, rolling ground. Those roots work their way into older sewer lines at the joints. Winter is the bigger test. Jones went through the December 2007 ice storm, and on February 16, 2021, Oklahoma City dropped to minus 14°F, its second-lowest reading on record. Older homes with lines in crawlspaces, exterior walls and unheated utility rooms have the least margin in cold like that. Read our winter plumbing guide before the next one.
Permits and inspections in Jones
The town’s building inspector reviews permit applications, and Jones requires that electrical, plumbing, gas, heating and air conditioning work be performed by professionals licensed by the State of Oklahoma, with inspections at every stage of construction. Since the town is also your gas utility, call the town’s emergency line or 911 from outside if you ever smell gas. Town Hall is at 110 East Main Street, and the inspector’s office can tell you what a given job needs.
