LOOKING BACK
Jones’ Hardware
Though today it’s known as Jones’ Hardware, the building that sits at the corner of Newark-Pompton Turnpike and Jackson
Avenue in Pequannock has been around for nearly two centuries. The original store was built in the early eighteen-hundreds
by the Berry family, giving the corner its nickname, “Berry’s Corner.” There, several generations of the Berry family sold
groceries and farm supplies, eventually adding a barn to the site. In the years between 1864 and 1929, the business was
operated first by Alexander Gilland (whose family operated the store alongside a Post Office for several decades), and then
by James Evans, a Medal of Honor recipient for his service in the Civil War, who operated the store serving as Pompton
Plains Railroad Station agent, Post Master, Township Constable, Justice of the Peace, and School Board member. In 1929,
Edward Jones bought the business, eventually passing on ownership to his sons Willard and Robert, and in turn his grandson,
Robbie, who still runs the store today. The present day site is occupied by the original store, now with an attached owner
residence, a small antique shop (closed by long-time owner Jacquie Greene, Robert’s daughter, in 2015), a storage barn, and a
building that was once used as the township’s first school but is now a private residence and optometrist shop.
– Historical information courtesy of Pequannock Township Historic District Commission
(“Jones Hardware Store: A Brief History,” Pequannock Township Newsletter, December 2012)
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