Benjamin Franklin Jones, Sr. was a pioneer of the iron and steel industry in Pittsburgh. Originally involved in the river barge industry, he purchased a share in American Iron Works in 1851, along with Bernard Lauth. He later joined with James H. Laughlin to form Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, a steel mill heavily dependent on river transportation. The B.F. Jones Memorial Library in Aliquippa Pennsylvania, the site of J&J Steel's Aliquippa Works, was built in his honor with funds donated by his daughter.