Flashback Minis: Youngstown State University’s Jones Hall

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio– Jones Hall on the campus of Youngstown State University was built in 1931. The building was later named for the university’s first president Howard Jones upon his retirement in 1966.

However, Jones Hall was not the first structure to stand on the corner lot of Wick and Lincoln Avenues to be used by the college. John C. Wick, a banker and also part owner of the Ohio Steel Co., built his house on the lot in the 1880s. That house would be purchased by the YMCA in 1925 and adapted for classroom use.

By 1929, the YMCA School would become Youngstown College. As the student population continued to expand, The YMCA held a fundraiser to build the first building solely dedicated to the college. A sign of the school’s YMCA origins can be found in the triangular YMCA logo over the front entrance.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.