Captain Joseph Jones, (sculpture).

Captain Joseph Jones, (sculpture).

Keck, Charles, 1875-1951, sculptor.

Captain Joseph Jones, (sculpture).

Dedicated Jan. 18, 1942.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: Georgia granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 8 ft. x W. 28 in.; Base: approx. 8 ft. 1 in. x 234 in. x 143 in.

Charles Keck (On front of base above sailing ship, incised:) VISION (On front center of base, below sculpture, incised:) CAPTAIN/JOSEPH JONES/FOUNDER/OF THE/PORT OF GULFPORT/THE CITY'S GREATEST BENEFACTOR (On front of base above sailing ship relief, incised:) VISION (On front of base above locomotive relief, incised:) COURAGE (On back of base, one side:) JOSEPH T JONES/BORN/PHILADELPHIA, PA/JUNE 11, 1842/DIED/BUFFALO, NY/DECEMBER 6, 1916/GULFPORT.MISS. 1896-1916 (On back of base, other side:) OIL PRODUCER/PENNSYLVANIA-N. VIRGINIA/WHOSE VISION.COURAGE AND INDOMITABLE ENERGY/MADE POSSIBLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE/GULF & SHIP ISLAND RAILROAD/AND THE CITY AND HARBOR OF GULFPORT MISS. signed

Standing portrait of Joseph T. Jones with mustache, dressed in a three-piece suit. His hands at his sides, with his proper left hand holding what appears to be a telescope. Behind his proper left leg is a piling with a docking line wrapped around it. The sculpture is mounted on a hexagonal base that is flanked by relief panels depicting a sailing ship on one side and a and a steam locomotive on the other.

Portrait male -- Jones, Joseph T. -- Full length

Occupation -- Transportation -- Captain

Occupation -- Industry -- Shipping

Occupation -- Industry -- Railroad

Occupation -- Industry -- Construction

Object -- Tool -- Telescope

Architecture -- Boat -- Sailing Ship

Architecture -- Vehicle -- Train

History -- United States -- Mississippi

Outdoor Sculpture -- Mississippi -- Gulfport

Administered by Gulfport/Harrison County Library, 21st Avenue & 14th Street, P. O. Box 4018, Gulfport, Mississippi 39501

Located Gulfport Library, Gulfport, Mississippi

Captain Joseph T. Jones (1842-1916), the founder of the port of Gulfport, Mississippi, and the city's greatest benefactor. Captain Jones was the first mayor of the newly created city of Gulfport, serving from 1899-1902. Jones took over the bankrupt Gulf and Ship Island Railroad in 1895 and completed it to Jackson in 1900. He built the harbor, dredged the channel to Ship Island, and invested millions of dollars in the development of Gulfport. The sculpture is installed in front of the Gulfport Library, which is located on the site of Jones' former homestead. For related information see Henry W. Black's "Gulfport: Beginnings and Growth."

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Mississippi survey, 1994.

SOS Assessment Award, 2000.

Inventory staff, 2001.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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