Wiley Jones, Changing Early Pine Bluff

This prolific man was one of the first wealthy African Americans in the South. Jones, a leading businessman, was an ex-slave who became a barber and a saloon owner. In August 1886, Jones became one of the first African-Americans in the nation to receive a franchise to operate a mule-drawn streetcar system, which he established in Pine Bluff. It was named Wiley Jones Street Car Lines and merged with the Citizens Street Railway around December 1890. This later became the electric railway, which the city bought. Now known as the Pine Bluff Transit, it is still owned by the city of Pine Bluff. 

See his full story here

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