Jonestown goes back to the late 17th century, when David Jones founded a settlement adjacent to his mill on what is now called the Jones Falls. Jonestown was incorporated as a community distinct from its neighbors, Baltimore Town and Fells Point. It comprised the area bound by Front Street, High Street and the Jones Falls on down to about Pratt Street. Some of it merged with Baltimore Town to form the core of what is now Baltimore City, but while Baltimore Town and Fells Point where busy port centers, Jonestown was the home of the wealthiest people of the era, who desired a life away from the hustle and bustle of horse-drawn carriages. The Charles Caroll Mansion, the McKim Free School, the Old Town Meeting House, and the Lloyd Street Synagogue, stand as testimony to these bygone days.
In the 1820s and 30s the original settlers spread away from the center of the city and thus Jonestown began its new role as a place to make a new start. It has served as a first generation neighborhood for Italians, Irish and Jews since the 1840s. Father Lawrence's church. St. Vincent de Paul, has served the Jonestown community since that time.
Tourist attractions -- the Shot Tower and the Flag House, among others -- continue to mark the community. Jonestown wishes to preserve these remnants of history; but, more importantly, to continue its legacy as "a place to start." In 1979, 98% of the 6000 residents lived in low- and high-rise projects, many of them the offspring of black families that moved north in the last major wave of migration, migration from the rural south to the urban north for ex-slave families. Although the neighborhood was poor, Father Lawrence still believed that the neighborhood was a place for people to get a good start on life. "A poor neighborhood where kids can do better than their parents" is his 1979 description of Historic Jonestown. |
