Jones Home for Children Courtesy of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, photo by Louis Sanovich

The Jones Home for Children was founded by Carlos Jones in 1886 and remained an independent orphanage and foster-care home until 1996. Carlos Jones was born in New Jersey and came to Cleveland with his family in 1831. Coming from modest means, he first worked as a farm hand in Parma, but went on to become a successful and wealthy farm equipment manufacturer. He retired in 1880, invested in real estate and became Mayor of Brooklyn, Ohio. Jones and his second wife Mary were motivated to establish an orphanage by the untimely death of Jones' only son. Originally the orphanage was located in their cottage and could accommodate only nine children.

In 1903 the Jones Home completed construction of a three-story brick dormitory designed by Sidney R. Badgley. The building is an architecturally significant example of early 20th-century institutional architecture. Badgley was a noted Cleveland architect who designed several churches in the area, most notably the Pilgrim Congregational Church in the Tremont Historic District. The dormitory was completed for a cost of $25,000 and is noted for its Georgian Revival style design with its distinctive polychromatic materials, gambrel roof and cupola. The brick façade is 100 feet long and the front slope of the gambrel roof is pierced by pedimented dormers. The façade is framed by quoins at the corners and contains varied window treatments, with arches on the first story and keystone lintels on the second story. A dominant projecting central bay with a single-story entry porch is capped by a large pediment and dentillated cornice that tie the composition together.

Fifty years after the Jones Home was founded it still adhered to its founders' policies. Only healthy white Protestant children were admitted. They were to be free of unfavorable hereditary traits and were only placed with rural families. Each child was given a Bible when they left the home. In the later half of the 20th century, the religious and racial restrictions were dropped and the home strengthened its counseling and casework. Although no longer an orphanage, the Jones Home (now known as Applewood Center) still provides services as a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children.

The Jones Home for Children is located at 3518 W. 25th St. in Cleveland. It is not open to the public. For information on the programs of the treatment facility, visit Applewood Center 's website.