Program Overview

The objective of the Downtown Jonesborough Façade & Architectural Improvement Grant Program (Façade Grant) is to provide incentives to improve the façade of buildings in an area within the Downtown Historic District in Jonesborough. By improving the appearance of building façades, the program serves to increase the economic viability of this area.  Improved aesthetics also increase property values, enhance the marketability of space within the buildings, eliminate blight and draw businesses and residents to the area.

The Downtown Façade Grant is administered by the Town of Jonesborough (TOJ).

The Jonesborough Board of Mayor and Aldermen will have a Work Session/Called Meeting at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 26, 2023, in the Board Room at the Town Hall, 123 Boone Street, Jonesborough, TN.

Meeting Agenda HERE

On Sunday, Sept. 10, the State of Franklin Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), will host its Tenth Annual Bell Ringing in honor of Constitution Week. The event takes place at 1:30 p.m. at Oak Hill School, located at 214 East Sabin Drive in Jonesborough across from the Jonesborough Public Library.

The program will focus on the history of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The program will include music, proclamations, re-enactors and the history of enslavement and abolition in Jonesborough. Several heritage groups will be participating, including the Kings Mountain NSSAR, the Over mountain Victory Trail Association and participation from other local chapters of the NSDAR.

Attendees are asked to bring their own chair and a bell to ring. Seating will not be provided on site.

The Daughters of the American Revolution began the tradition of celebrating  to emphasize citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution. In 1955, the DAR petitioned Congress to set aside September 17-23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week. The resolution was adopted by Congress and signed into law on August 2, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The State of Franklin Chapter of the NSDAR has been based in Jonesborough since 1929.

Historic Zoning Commission will meet Thursday, August 24, 2023, in the Board Room located in Jonesborough’s Town Hall at 6:00 PM.

View the agenda here.

On August 14, a terrible thunderstorm hit Jonesborough. In the process, knocked down a giant oak, with the estimated age of at least 500 years old.

Town staff started working at 1 a.m. on August. 15. No one was injured in the tree fall.

You may have seen white placards with green numbers and a tree on it throughout town on historical buildings. The oak tree in the placard is the same tree!

The following info was provided by an article originally from 2015 in the Herald & Tribune along with its description on the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council website

‘The first written evidence of the tree was found in an 1884 land deed for Washington County, where it was mentioned as a boundary tree.

The white oak was the first tree inducted into the town’s Heritage Tree program. As a Jonesborough Heritage Tree, it is protected and its maintenance is shared with the Town of Jonesborough.

The giant oak was once listed as the state co-champion white oak with a circumference exceeding 22 feet, a height over 112 feet, and a crown spread of an impressive 129 feet.

Just a reminder to the community to remember the oak is on private property, please refrain from walking in their front or backyard or up on their porch to take pictures without the homeowners permission. The tree is currently being removed and distributed for future preservation of its legacy.