George Noble Jones

Who was George Noble Jones?

George Noble Jones was a wealthy southern plantation owner who owned the El Destino Plantation and Chemonie Plantation. In 1839 he hired English architect, Richard Upjohn, to build Kingscote one of the earliest summer "cottages" on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Kingscote, a classic Gothic Revival building, is now a National Historic Landmark.

George Noble Jones was born in 1811 to Noble Wimberly Jones and Sarah Jones, families with a long colonial heritage. His ancestor, Noble Jones, established Wormsloe Plantation near Savannah, Georgia. On May 18, 1840, George Noble Jones married Mary Savage Nuttall and purchased Chemonie as well as the Nuttall's El Destino Plantation. G. N. Jones was one of the first members of the elite gentlemen's club, the Newport Reading Room. Jones died in 1876