Home Care In Jonesville, SC

JONESVILLE, S.C. — Dorothy Ngongang grew up as a sharecropper, picking cotton in South Carolina in the 1950s and '60s.

Her family of 12 lived in a two-bedroom hut where they slept on flour sacks stuffed with grass. Each child owned one pair of clothes at a time.

"We had a typical-looking sharecropping hut with brown wood and broken windows," said Ngongang, who is now 72 and lives in Charlotte. "You had to make sure you had cats to be sure you kept the snakes down."

Across the street stood a large white house with a wraparound porch that Ngongang and her siblings, then known as the Giles family, often admired as they worked in the fields.

"It was a mansion to us," Ngongang said of the house. "We thought it was beautiful."

The Giles, who are African-American, would peer over at the house from their modest home in Jonesville, a town with an area of 1 square mile in Union County, South Carolina.

The house didn't belong to the landowners the Giles family worked for. A well-off white family, the Wheelers, lived in the home and their daughters were playmates of the Giles kids. They'd all play out in the fields together, or sometimes under the porch. The home the Wheelers lived in not only represented the financial stability that the Giles' longed for, it was a bright spot in an otherwise arduous existence.

"They were kind even then when there were white people who were not kind," said Ngongang, who recalled long summer days playing with the Wheeler daughters. "There were some cruel things, but they were never that type of family. They treated us as next-door neighbors and friends."

Back then, Ngongang didn't dream her siblings and their children would pull themselves out of poverty. She could not know they would fan out across the country to earn professional degrees, or that her own daughter would become a medical doctor. She never imagined as a child that she and her siblings would one day pool their money and own that big white house that was across the street.

'An encourager'

Sharecropping is an arrangement in which property owners allow tenants to farm a piece of land in exchange for a share of the crop. In many cases, as with the Giles family, the tenants worked extraordinarily hard for very little, and if the crops failed in a particular year, they got even less. Sharecropping was widespread in the South during Reconstruction, after the Civil War. It was a way for landowners to still command labor, often by African-Americans, to keep their farms profitable. It faded in most places by the 1940s.

But not everywhere.

When the 10 Giles kids were young, they picked an enormous amount of cotton — the equivalent of about 20,000 pounds of cotton a year. For that, the family earned a total of about $100 to $300 annually plus minimal food, they said. They ate what Ngongang called a "slave diet" — molasses or gravy, fatback and a type of corn bread. Butter and milk were considered delicacies.

When Ngongang was a girl, she loved attending school, but was frustrated that she and her siblings had to miss months at a time because her father, an incessant worker, required them to hoe, chop or pick cotton.

"We did all of the work, and the landowner kept the books and settled up with us using his math," Ngongang said. "We were just human capital."

When they were able to go to school, the Giles children walked 3 miles to a segregated, two-room schoolhouse while nearby white children took buses to and from school. Some white children would throw sand out of the bus at the Giles children to humiliate them. But having a strong mother kept them focused on what was important.

Her father, a sharecropper since he was 5 years old, was illiterate. So was her mother. But her mother was determined none of her children would be.

"Our mother was an encourager, she encouraged us to learn or 'get something in our heads that no one could take from us,' " Ngongang said.

It worked. The children, eight girls and two boys, studied extra hard to keep up with what was taught when they missed school.

"I felt I wasn't going to be there picking cotton my whole life," Ngongang said. "I thought, 'No, I can't do this. Not with the pain of living the way we lived.' "

A teacher's life

After high school, Ngongang dedicated herself to earning her degrees and pulling herself out of poverty.

She graduated second in her class at Sims High School in 1965, and then attended a satellite campus of the University of South Carolina. She lived at home, and a professor helped her get a scholarship for the tuition. She eventually transferred to what was then called Mars Hill College, a university near Asheville, North Carolina. She worked in the cafeteria to pay for books and also earned money picking peaches, cleaning houses and babysitting in the summers. She was one of the first black students on campus, and she was forced to sleep in the infirmary at first because the school refused to match her with a white roommate.

In the cafeteria, she ate her meals alone for months, until slowly the white students would start to sit near her.

She was as smart as she was dedicated, and ended up earning the highest marks at the college. She graduated from Mars Hill in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in biology.

"I didn't realize how isolated we were until I moved away," she said.

She then went on to get her master's degree in teaching from Indiana University in 1972. After, she settled in North Carolina and got a job at a high school in Charlotte teaching biology, environmental science and anatomy. She also taught Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate biology, and retired in 2010 after a teaching career that spanned more than three decades.

Her brothers and sisters were successful, as well. Of the 10 children, seven graduated from college and three went on to earn master's degrees. Three were successful in manufacturing.

Ngongang met a man from Cameroon and they married in 1980, and later had two children. They divorced after 13 years of marriage, but remained friends. He passed away in 2007.

Daring to dream

In 2015, Ngongang, who was staying busy with family and tutoring children, got a curious call. It was from her old playmate Peggy Wheeler McKinney, who grew up in the white house with the wraparound porch. She said the house was for sale. She wondered whether Ngongang wanted to buy it.

"I was redoing it and I ran into all kinds of financial and physical problems, and I knew I wasn't able to redo it," said McKinney, 65, who has memories of playing with the Giles children. "I called them and asked them if they'd be interested in buying it. To me, it was like keeping it in the family."

Wheeler's sister, Joan Wheeler Little, said the Wheeler and Giles kids "have always had a good bond. Any time you needed anything, you could ask them."

The house had been vacant for 10 years and it needed a lot of work. But if Ngongang and her family wanted it, McKinney said she'd sell it to them for a decent price.

It hadn't occurred to Ngongang before, but all of a sudden it made perfect sense. Several of her siblings and their children were still in the area, and it would be nice to have a home base when they visited South Carolina. It could be a place where they could gather for Christmas.

And her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all buried nearby.

Not lost on her was how remarkable it was that they could actually do it. Looking back on where she'd come from, it was an achievement she'd never even dare to dream of when she was a child.

"I never visualized owning that house," Ngongang said. "Nobody in the family, they never visualized sitting on the porch and rocking."

Ngongang called her sister and brother who she thought might be interested. They were. They bought the house in April 2015 for $45,000 and started fixing it up. They had to essentially gut the house and remake the interior.

They had fixed it up enough to host a gathering at the end of 2017, on Christmas, with 30 members of the family, many of whom looked in wonder at what they did to the place. It still needs work, including some fixes on the roof, but it's close to being where they want it.

"They restored it and made it look like it used to; they've done a wonderful job on it," said Wheeler Little, whose great uncle built the house. "I would have rather seen them have it than anybody."

Ngongang's son, Decker Ngongang, 36, said he has watched the home take shape and is in awe of the project his mother and aunts and uncles have undertaken.

"They are on the land where they used to pick cotton," Decker said. "I recognize the significance of that; they recognize the significance of that."

Ngongang said she realizes it might seem strange that she and her family would want to return to the place where they suffered so much.

"Do we have bad memories? Of course we have bad memories," she said. "You can't get a rose without thorns."

But her voice broke with emotion as she talked about her brother's joy at returning to the property where the family so carefully and diligently tended to the fields. She said buying the house has been "therapeutic" for the whole family.

"My brother looked across the fields and said, 'I have to contain myself, I have to smile to keep from crying,' " she said.

Get more news with our NewsCycle podcast

Move to Memphis will cost Union 150 jobs

The Disney magic is over in Union County.

Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it will close its 500,000-square-foot distribution center off Highway 176 near Jonesville.

The company said it will consolidate the center, which employs about 150 people, into another Disney distribution center in Memphis, Tenn. Some employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate to the Memphis facility, which will serve Disney stores and Disneystores.com.

"These decisions are never easy, and Disney will work with the employees of the Jonesville facility over the next year to make this transition as seamless as possible," Edward Kummer, senior vice president of global e-commerce for Disney Consumer Products, said in a statement. "Disney.com has been a proud employer to members of the Jonesville community since 1997, and we thank the employees for their years of service."

Union County Supervisor Tommy Sinclair said the company will phase out the facility in stages starting in July, with the goal of closing by July 2011.

The loss of that many jobs is an additional economic blow to a county with one of the highest rates of unemployment in South Carolina. Union County's jobless rate in March was 19.2 percent, according to the S.C. Employment Security Commission. It was the first month since May that unemployment in Union dropped below 20 percent.

Sinclair said he feared the rate will jump back above that mark as a result of the announcement.

In addition to the loss of jobs, Sinclair said the county will lose $315,000 to $320,000 in tax revenue with Disney's departure.

Rep. Mike Anthony, D-Union, said the center was also a reliable source for part-time work when its seasonal business would pick up.

"We've been chipping away at unemployment, but this could potentially be devastating to those efforts," Anthony said.

Disney Co. opened the state-of-the-art center in 1999, replacing two centers in Memphis. County leaders granted the company a 6 percent, 20-year fee-in-lieu-of agreement, meaning that instead of paying the 10.5 percent tax most companies are assessed, Disney paid 6 percent.

Sinclair and Anthony said the county is working with the S.C. Department of Commerce to market the facility to prospective companies.

"We've done some initial planning, but will be working hard on that," Sinclair said. "It's one of the premier facilities in the state. It can support another distribution operation or be up-fitted to support manufacturing."

Andrena Powell-Baker, director of the Union County Economic Development Board, said the county will pool its resources together with the S.C. Employment Security Commission to "soften the impact" of Disney's announcement.

"We've pulled together a great team," she said. "We have seen an uptick in activity. Although we're losing a big name, our biggest concern is getting people back to work."

USC Union has named 69 students to the President’s List and 93 students to the Dean’s List for the Fall 2023 semester. Twelve Palmetto College students have been named to the President’s List and 8 to the Dean’s List.

To be named to the President’s List, a student must be full-time with a semester grade point average of 4.0. Those named to the Dean’s List are full-time students with a semester GPA above 3.5.

USC Union President's List

Ella Adair, Clinton SC

Sarah Adame, Lansing MI

Lea Baldwin, Union SC

Tarijae Ballard, Laurens SC

Gavain Barron, Redwood City CA

Abby Benfield, Jonesville SC

Brooke Bowles, North Augusta SC

Angela Brown, Union SC

Molli Butler, Buffalo SC

Sophia Caley, Columbia SC

Emma Chapman, Newberry SC

William Childers, Union SC

Ivan Cienki, Miami Beach FL

Hanna Copeland, Buffalo SC

San-Juana Cruz Tomas, Laurens SC

Mattison Dasher, Laurens SC

Jayda Davis, Monroe NC

Blake Exizian, Simpsonville SC

Hayden Friend, Irmo SC

Peyton Friend, Irmo SC

Adrienne Fuehrer, Greer SC

Jordan Fuhrman, West Columbia SC

Amya Furtick, Lexington SC

Taylor Garrett, Kinards SC

Madison Goossens, Goose Creek SC

Raegan Green, Union SC

Hannah Heatherly, Jonesville SC

Katrina Helton, Waterloo SC

Catherine Hodson, Groton CT

Bryson Holderness, Leesville SC

Colin Ingle, Horse Shoe NC

Madyson Iusti, Laurens SC

Haylee Izzett, Union SC

Richard Jenkins, Laurens SC

Roman Lepekha, Key Biscayne FL

Kristians Levensteins, Arvada CO

Richard Luman, Jonesville SC

Jameson Madden, Cashiers NC

Kierra Martin, Darlington SC

Montgomery Meade, Greenville SC

Keilyn Mendoza, Laurens SC

Bianca Monteith, Westminster SC

Peyton Morris, Sumter SC

Michael Murphy, United Kingdom

Logan Neeley, Lexington SC

Matigan Nettles, Bonneau SC

Katie Painter, Union SC

Nicholas Palmer, Buffalo SC

Ethan Patterson, Laurens SC

Isabelle Popejoy, Clover SC

John Rivers, Charleston SC

Summer Roberts, Union SC

Miley Robinson, Jonesville SC

Catherine Roby, Hickory Grove SC

Chase Rogers, Warrenville SC

Gabriel Rushing, Ware Shoals SC

Ben Röder, Germany

Loren Solomon, Irmo SC

Audrey Stacks, Rock Hill SC

Jailyn Starnes, Wagener SC

Nico Steinweg, Germany

Jalysa Sullivan, Fountain Inn SC

Abigail Tessigner, Pacolet SC

Rebecca Thornton, Jonesville SC

Michelle Velasquez, Joanna SC

Steven Ward, Woodruff SC

Brooklyn Werts, Laurens SC

Hayden Wham, Mountville SC

Emily Winstead, Pacolet SC

USC Union Dean's List

Jamison Alexander, Union SC

Terrena Anderson, Clinton SC

Emily Anthony, Union SC

Lucas Barbu, Manchester MI

Nicholas Barcelo, Pembroke Pines FL

Conner Boan, Mount Pleasant SC

Brett Boone, Anderson SC

T'Yonna Boone, Union SC

Brennan Brooks, West Columbia SC

Austin Brown , Acworth GA

Jay Brunson-Hartgill, United Kingdom

Joseph Burgess, Waynesville NC

Kaleb Butts, Starr SC

Peyton Cannon, Union SC

Morgan Catoe, Union SC

Warren Childers, Union SC

Emmad Childers, Union SC

Cadence Clayton, Lyman SC

Donovan Cobb, United Kingdom

Brianna Compton. Monroe NC

Rogelio Contreras, Joanna SC

Brayden Corn , Hendersonville NC

Richard Crawford, Ware Shoals SC

Lapri Cromer, Newberry SC

Owen Crow, Laurens SC

Bryson Dameron, Jonesville SC

Keagan Dean, Walhalla SC

Cohen Decort, Lutz FL

Maximilian Diebold, Tübingen

Charles Duke, Franklin TN

Rachel Duncan, Union SC

Kelvin Eison, Union SC

Mary Fisher, Buffalo SC

Elijah Gaines, Easley SC

Hayden Garner, Jonesville SC

Ally Gilbert, Lexington SC

Shania Glenn, Columbia SC

Carlo Gonzalez, Mexico

Elijah Gregory, Union SC

Tim Groenenberg, Germany

Madison Haney, Buffalo SC

Breanna Harbin, Jonesville SC

Kayleigh Harris, Union SC

Colby Helms, Rock Hill SC

Ashlee Hoile, Elgin SC

Jameson Holt, Jonesville SC

Luke Hopwood, United Kingdom

Bryana Horne, Buffalo SC

Jonathan Howard, Joanna SC

Gillian Hughes, Abbeville SC

Donald Hullett, Union SC

Jacqueline Johnson, Greenville SC

Hunter Jolly, Spartanburg SC

Mallory Lamb, Spartanburg SC

Holden Lipford, Union SC

Tyrone Little, Clinton SC

Kamerin Lusk, Honea Path SC

Michael Lutz, Lexington SC

Spencer Mamrick, Greer SC

Kyle Marinko, Marietta GA

Matheus Mateus, Brazil

Koheen Minick, Union SC

Maximus Moriarty, United Kingdom

Graham Morlan, North Augusta SC

Bailey Mosier, Pacolet SC

Nicole Moss, Union SC

Mila Mzamane, South Africa

Christopher Neilson, United Kingdom

Jedidiah Omoghan, Canada

Jeremiah Palmer, Columbia SC

Evelyn Parra-Hernandez, Joanna SC

Annesley Phillips, Union SC

Mckenzie Pike, York SC

Jayla Powell, Cowpens SC

Joshua Raines, West Columbia SC

Xiomara Ramirez-Bernal, Buffalo SC

Luke Salsman, New Dberia LA

Alaina Schumpert, Kinards SC

William Scott, Jonesville SC

Alexander Simmons, Bluffton SC

Kalei Stanford , Greer SC

Andrew Stephens, Columbia SC

Madison Stephenson, Chester SC

Bailey Stewart, Pomaria SC

Micah Thacker, Gray Court SC

Holly Thames, Gray Court SC

Christopher Tucker, Pauline SC

Jennifer Whiteford, Clinton SC

Hayden Whitlock, Union SC

Bryant Whitlock, Jonesville SC

Dontee Wicks, Union SC

Amber Wilson, Union SC

Kendrick Wright, Swansea SC

Palmetto College President's List

James Alverson, Clinton SC

Jaclynn DeLuca, Greenville SC

Hannah Exum, Columbia SC

Noah Flood, Union SC

Kristy Garner, Union SC

Haley Jackson, Union SC

Jadyn Kimbrell, Pauline SC

Julie Latham, Union SC

Heather McNally, McCormick SC

Wende Miller, Gaston SC

Timothy Padgett, Inman SC

Madison Ryder, New Market MD

Palmetto College Dean's List

Madison Addington, West Union SC

Payne Blackstone, West Columbia SC

Breosha Curbeam, Chester SC

Kensley Hill, Union SC

Melinda Hullett, Union SC

Janie Knox, Union SC

Heather Laney , Indian Trail NC

Leeann Pundt, Greenwood SC

The anger in Jonesville and Lockhart over the loss of their high schools has faded with time, but the sense of loss still lingers.

“Friday night football was the main event up there,” Lockhart business owner Bernice Canupp said.

Games were major social gatherings, with residents in both towns coming out to cheer on the Wildcats and Red Devils. School events were supported by the whole community.

But that ended 10 years ago, when the high schools in Jonesville and Lockhart were combined with Union High School to form Union County High.

The decision to consolidate was a divisive one. Many residents of the two communities argued the move would hurt their towns and rob them of a piece of their identity.

The two high schools were estimated to need somewhere in the range of $13 million in repairs. Consolidating the three high schools would save about $1 million annually, the Union County School District estimated.

In the end, economics prevailed, and most residents came to accept the change. But many still miss the institutions that helped bring everyone together.

'A tough decision'

The vote came in March 2007.

“It goes without saying that there was a feeling of loss in the Jonesville community as well as the Lockhart community. Those schools were an important part of the fabric of Union County,” said David Eubanks, who served as Union County's interim superintendent about a month after the vote. “It was a tough decision and it was an emotional decision.”

Consolidation came down to money, he said. Renovating the two high schools would have been costly, and enrollment was declining at all three of the county’s high schools.

“The school board did make that decision, in my opinion, just months before they probably would have had to make it because of the economic downturn,” Eubanks said.

After the 2006-07 school year, 364 Jonesville High students and 117 Lockhart High students became part of the consolidated Union County High School, according to S.C. Department of Education records.

Elementary and middle school students continue to use the Lockhart High building. Even before consolidation, all grade levels shared one facility, but because the lower grades don't require as much technology and lab space as the high school would have needed, the district has been able to focus funds on maintenance.

Jonesville High now houses the town's municipal complex, but still bears banners and logos with the school's old colors and Wildcat mascot.

Current Union County Superintendent Bill Roach said while the decision has come to be accepted by many, it remains an "open wound" for some residents.

“What happened then was, you’re shutting a page of history for a lot of those folks,” he said.

Small town voices

Bernice Canupp owns Lockhart Cafe?, one of only a handful of businesses operating in the town limits.

“I hated it,” Canupp said of the consolidation effort.

Lockhart Cafe? is surrounded by old mill houses that have outlived the mill that was once the heart of the community.

In 1994, Milliken & Co., the town’s major employer, pulled out. Since then, new development has come slowly.

Recently, a Dollar General — referred to by some as “mini Walmart” — was built on the outskirts of town. Rounding out the local businesses are Bailey’s Cafe?, another small restaurant, and two gas stations.

A grocery store, pharmacy or doctor’s office are at least a 20-minute drive away in either Union or Chester County.

In front of the old mill pond, a painted red wall reads, “Welcome to the Beautiful Town of Lockhart.”

“Now, there’s really nothing here,” said Lockhart resident Ronnie Swanger as he passed a recent afternoon fishing at the pond. “It’s just a little forgotten mill village now.”

Swanger, a 1965 Lockhart High graduate, has lived in the town all his life.

“We had our own school, our own teachers," he said. "When I graduated, we only had about 17 seniors."

A 15-minute drive down Highway 9 from Lockhart is Jonesville, a larger and less centralized town.

Jonesville has more residents and businesses than Lockhart, but shared its feelings about consolidation.

Kolby Gage, a lifelong Jonesville resident, was in the school’s final graduating class in 2007. He said he didn’t think much about consolidation at the time. A decade later, he said he’s proud to have been part of history.

“There’s never another class coming from that building,” he said. “It’s part of the culture, even still today.”

Losing an identity

A lingering sore spot for Jonesville and Lockhart residents is how the consolidation plan was executed.

When the high schools were combined, school trustees decided to keep Union High's Yellow Jackets mascot at Union County High. That upset residents who had supported a plan proposed by a group of students, teachers and community members that would have created a new mascot, the Wolfpack, and new school colors to go with the new name.

But school trustees said redoing the signs at the school and elsewhere in the county would cost too much.

“I was disappointed in the way they did that,” lifelong Lockhart resident Gerald Gregory said.

Gage agreed.

“If they were going to combine the schools, they should’ve had a new mascot,” he said. “They shut down Jonesville, they shut down Lockhart, and just made Union bigger.”

Coming together

Some efforts were made to honor the connection the two last high school classes in the Jonesville and Lockhart buildings felt to their old schools.

The Jonesville and Lockhart high classes of 2008 and 2009 were allowed to be academically ranked with both Union County High students and with the Jonesville and Lockhart high groups, respectively. For two years, three high school valedictorians were recognized in Union County.

Students also could choose a transcript bearing the name of Union County, Jonesville or Lockhart high school.

“When it was all said and done, people wanted it to work,” Eubanks said. “And, over time, those people are the reason it worked.”

Eubanks understands why residents were upset. He said he told district staff to be ready to listen to people's concerns.

“We had to have empathy for those folks who had a sense of loss. A sense of healing had to be there,” he said. “The administration, the school board, everyone had to be a good listener. You weren’t going to talk anyone into understanding or accepting the schools were closed.”

A Cowpens High School graduate, Eubanks is no stranger to consolidation. He became principal of Broome High School one year after Spartanburg School District 3 merged Cowpens and Pacolet high schools.

Community members more readily accepted that consolidation because the new school was a fresh start with a new name and mascot, Eubanks said.

“I didn’t disagree with them. I tried to approach it like, ‘I know exactly what you’re talking about. I know those schools are a big part of your community,’” he said. “I think the greatest concern I heard was, ‘We will lose our identity.’ I said, ‘Try to help develop a new identity with that Union County High School.’ I feel there has been an attempt to do that, and just by virtue of the fact I didn’t hear anyone say the consolidation was a problem the last time I was down there, I think a lot of people did that.”

Acceptance

Even though the high school is gone, Gregory said he remains proud of Lockhart schools.

“We all still love and support that school and try to go to about everything they have,” Gregory said.

Students from Lockhart have benefited from going to Union County High, and have more opportunities there now than they would have had at the old school, Swanger said.

“I really didn’t like it to start with, but I really think it’s a good thing now,” he said.

There was also no way the district could've sustained three high schools in the long run, given the declining enrollment, aging facilities and small tax base, Eubanks said.

Roach said in the decade since consolidation, the district has worked hard for its students and its residents. The district has increased the programs offered at Union County High to accommodate students from across the county.

Gregory said while he thinks the process should’ve been handled differently, the bitterness many once felt has long since disappeared.

“You’ve got some with grudges from the start, but it has been good for the kids,” he said.

Eubanks said that sentiment is what has ultimately prevailed.

“There are a lot of people who still have a lot of value for those two schools in their soul, and that’s not going away,” Eubanks said. “I think everyone has come to accept, to a great degree, that it was in the best interest of the students in Union County so they could be better provided for academically.”

Powered By

The Town of Hilton Head announced plans to purchase three land parcels along Jonesville Road — a longtime site of tension between developers eyeing empty land on the island and residents fighting to preserve the hub of a historic Gullah community.

Comprising 12.019 acres and valued at $7.6 million, the property sits just north of Jonesville Road, situated between Graham Lane and Paddocks Boulevard. The land was previously being considered for a housing complex of nearly 100 single-family units, part of a string of newly proposed developments that residents claimed would triple the population of the already crowded neighborhood.

“This council is committed to managing growth,” Mayor Alan Perry said in a press release. “When we learned of the opportunity to purchase this property, we took decisive action to remove it from the threat of immediate development.”

Although the town hasn’t specified its plans for the property, the planned acquisition marks a victory for the Jonesville Preservation Society, a young but fast-growing group of Jonesville residents and other islanders fighting to protect the historic neighborhood against excessive growth and preserve green space.

“I’m glad that they heard us,” society president Daniel Anthony told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

Anthony believes the town’s decision is a direct consequence of the community’s grassroots movement, whose support and influence has quickly spread beyond the Jonesville neighborhood. The group’s survey on overdevelopment, launched in mid-January, garnered 1,303 responses in only nine days, with 91.3% of responses indicating support for a sixth-month moratorium on development across the island.

The survey’s results were presented to the Town Council at the Jan. 26 Public Planning Committee meeting. Five days later, council members voted unanimously to enter a contract to acquire the land.

The 12-acre parcel was formerly home to Driftwood Stable, a well-known equine experience that was forced to relocate after the land was rezoned for residential use in September. The business’ Facebook page has teased the opening of a new location, but the owners did not immediately reply when asked whether they would return to the original location following the town’s acquisition.

Despite last Tuesday’s clear victory for the Jonesville Preservation Society, the neighborhood’s stand against growth is far from over. Construction is already underway for the nearby Bailey’s Cove, a 147-unit housing development whose 29-acre lot dwarfs the town’s recent 12-acre acquisition.

Formerly the home of thick forests and the island’s signature marshlands, the flattened construction site is a constant visual reminder of the long road ahead for Jonesville Road.

Although residents are appreciative of the town’s recent decisions, Anthony says the Jonesville Preservation Society will continue advocating for long-term solutions, including the establishment of an islandwide development moratorium and an updated Land Management Ordinance that limits the density of housing projects.

On a larger scale, town officials have also begun making plans to manage growth in the Jonesville neighborhood. In a Jan. 3 Town Council workshop, Assistant Town Manager Shawn Colin announced the creation of a Jonesville District plan to assess the area’s zoning code, existing infrastructure and more to “establish expectations” for future development.