• By Todd Luck
• Posted Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Historic Marker Unveiled for Griffith-Jones Old Home Place

The Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission and Jones Family officially unveiled the Griffith-Jones Old Home Place Historic Marker on May 19.

The marker honors the contributions of the Griffith and Jones families to Lewisville. The unveiling took place at Concord United Methodist Church, while the marker itself is located at the Old Home Place at 9950 Concord Church Road.

The historic marker program started in 2001 and has placed over 50 markers throughout Forsyth County.

“Historic Markers help residents remember and learn about important places, events and people in the community’s collective history,” said Forsyth County Historic Resources Commissioner Tina Thacker. “These markers help to mark a spot in history that should not be forgotten.”

The marker recognizes that William Griffith Sr. bought 138 acres of land on Double Creek, where he built and operated a sawmill. The land was passed down to his son, William Griffith Jr. who was a farmer and magistrate, who then gave 40 acres to his daughter, Mary M.A. Griffith, and her husband, W. Asbury Jones. In 1859, they got married and built a one and a half story hall-and-parlor plan log house on the land. Mary and Asbury had seven children, five of whom remained in Lewisville to raise their families. In 1926, over 100 people attended a family reunion held at the Home Place. Three Griffiths who lived on the land are buried in a family plot there.

Merrikay Brown of the Lewisville Historical Society said the two families made significant contributions to the story of Forsyth County, Lewisville and the many families that are related to them.

“These two families, and many others that have stayed here over the years, have influenced the economy, the culture and the history of our area in a significant way,” said Brown.

Lewisville Mayor Mike Horn said that the family had real foresight to buy that amount of land at $2.25 an acre, saying it would be worth quite a bit today.

“That was an amazing family,” said Horn.

Kay Harper Windsor spoke about the family’s long history with Concord Church, the oldest Methodist church in Forsyth County. Griffith Sr. was a founding member of the church, which got its start in 1782 as “Waggoner’s Chapel.”

Sally Jones gave a detailed family history and had the many Jones who were there for their family reunion introduce themselves. She also thanked City/County Planning staff for making the marker process a pleasant experience.

The next historic marker unveiling is May 26 and will honor Lowman Pauling and The “5” Royales. It will be unveiled at 3 p.m. outside the Pauling family home, 1135 Rich Ave., in Winston-Salem.

More pictures from the event can be found here