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 Image from 1940s postcard of the Jones Motor Company. Note the four-digit phone number | ||
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Don remembers mopping floors, pumping gas, running thegrease rack, and
going to school - plus playing football. When he returned from a three year
stint in Guam, his brother Frank put him in charge of the parts department.
Don learned about parts, then went on to sales, and finally managed the
dealership. Ralph Jones retired in 1957, but "he still kept up with the
business," says Don. They moved the operation to Lomas, and had locations on
Gibson and San Mateo, and a Lincoln-Mercury Edsel dealership in Santa Fe.
Ralph Jones was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, charter member of the Sandia Kiwanas Club, he was on the board of Bernalillo County Hospital, and he chaired the first highway commission, which had six members. He served as chairman of the state Route 66 Association and helped revive the National association.
A History Preserved
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"It represents a
farthermost eastern business site and coincides with the economic importance
of Route 66 during the ‘40s and ‘50s."
Kammer credits Sherri Brueggemann for reviving interest in the Jones Motor Company building through her University of New Mexico honors thesis, "The Evolution of an Architectural Gem," dated May 1997. The thesis looks at ways of finding new uses for the building, and it helped to promote interest in seeing the building preserved. She hoped it would be restored as a neighborhood cultural center, but private enterprise (in the spirit of Route 66) won the restoration trophy. "I think that the history of Route 66 is really a history of private entrepreneurship," says Kammer, "and I think that keeping that building in private hands and on the tax roles is important." He also feels the Bonfontines were committed to respecting historic character of the building from the beginning. "There are always going to be debates as to how resources are used, and there will always be differences of opinion, but I think that in our society the goal is to find ways of talking things through and coming to an agreed upon solution. When people found that there was a common language and agreed upon that, the goal of preserving the building was attained." Preserving this significant landmark helps preserve Route 66. | |
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