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After the Civil War, Wiley Jones and the Yell family all moved to Monticello, Arkansas. He considered moving to Fort Smith, however he decided that he liked Pine Bluff better so in the latter part of 1865 he left the Yell Plantation and moved to Pine Bluff. While in Pine Bluff he worked as a mule driver for a brief period. He then returned to Monticello where he became the manager of the Yell Plantation for which he was paid twenty dollars a month. He eventually left Monticello again and moved back to Pine Bluff. Once back in Pine Bluff, Wiley Jones worked hard for over 10 years on various jobs such as a barber and hotel waiter. During that time he saved his money, invested in real estate, and loaned money with interest to his friends. In 1876, Wiley Jones opened a saloon at 207 S. Main St. His brother James worked with Wiley Jones as the manager for several of his businesses. One of his most well-known businesses was the Southern Mercantile Company.

Wiley Jones had a love for horses and horse racing, so he built a fifty-five acre park near 17th and Main St. in Pine Bluff. The park was a city recreational park which also featured a harness-racing track. The park was the home to fairs, bicycle races and annual May Day celebrations. The “Colored State Fair” was also held on his property. The park was a spectacular area that housed amphitheaters, ornate gardens, and horse stables.

In 1886, Wiley Jones secured a franchise license from the City Council of Pine Bluff to operate a mule-drawn streetcar system. The streetcar franchise was named The Jones Street Railway and Equipment Company. The Wiley Jones Street Car Lines was for Colored patrons; it literally ran alongside the White’s only Citizens Street Railway Company’s streetcars. The Citizens Street Railway Company had received its franchise license in 1885. The Jones Street Railway and Equipment Company and the Citizens Street Railway Company both ran at a financial loss for most of the year, however, the profit made when the Colored State Fair was in town financed operations for the full year for Wiley Jones’ company. In 1890, Wiley Jones purchased the failing Citizens Railway Company and merged the two.

In 1889 Wiley Jones partnered with Edward Houston to redevelop an area outside of Pine Bluff known as White Sulphur Springs. White Sulphur Springs was to be a beautiful resort suburb town of Pine Bluff. The area had hotels, fine restaurants, swimming pool, bowling alley, billiards hall, summer homes and, of course, Sulphur springs. The town enjoyed success and tragedy throughout its years. Today, the area is simply called Sulphur Springs and lacks the splendor that it once had. 

Wiley Jones never ran for political office but he was one of Jefferson County’s most influential political citizens in the 1880s and 1890s. Wiley Jones supported the Colored Industrial Institute on 16th Ave and State St. He also donated land on 4th and Poplar for the black St. James United Methodist Church.

Wiley Jones died on December 7, 1904 in his home at 19th and Georgia St. from a heart attack and Bright’s disease. At the time of his death, he was the richest African American in Arkansas. He was buried in his own cemetery west of Bellwood Cemetery, now known as Miller Cemetery in Pine Bluff.