Friday, August 21, 2015

Benjamin Franklin Jones Cottage

Street View

     The small town of Cresson, Pennsylvania was once the rural escape for the tycoons of the railroad and iron industries in the early Twentieth-century. Originally Cresson was named Cresson Springs and known for the Mountainhouse resort. The appeal of the fresh county air and the resort attracted many wealthy individuals for a few years until the Mountainhouse resort was demolished. Some of the visitors of the resort loved the location so much they built summer homes in the area including Charles Schwab, Andrew Carnegie, and Benjamin F. Jones.

     The Benjamin F. Jones cottage was built in 1888 in the Queen Anne style. The Carnegie cottage at one time sat beside the Jones cottage and the two cottages had become confused with each other over the years in history and references. Currently the Jones cottage is trying to be saved by private and community efforts ever since the township marked it as unsafe and an eye sore. The Benjamin Franklin Jones cottage sits on 3rd street in Cresson. From the intersection of Route 53 and the Admiral Perry Highway head East on Admiral Perry Highway and make a right on 3rd street.