The Time Ben Jones Bought a Town

In 1963, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer ran a feature titled “Mr. Jones Buys a Town.”

That headline was more literal than it sounded.

At the time, Ben Jones was operating sawmills across multiple states. In Vredenburgh, Alabama, a fire had taken out a mill that supported an entire community. What was left wasn’t just damaged equipment—it was a town built around that operation.

Ben Jones stepped in and bought the whole thing.

The land, the timber rights, the homes, and the mill itself. Then he rebuilt it and put people back to work.

In 1976, he sold three mills in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to a company owned by Bendix Corporation.

That same year, he started Ben Jones Machinery.

Instead of running mills, the focus shifted to the equipment itself—buying, rebuilding, and putting it back into service.

Nearly 50 years later, that same approach still drives the business. We’ve worked with mills across the country and beyond, helping improve production and efficiency without the cost of new equipment.

A lot has changed in the industry over the years.

The fundamentals haven’t.