[3] It was named after Granville Whittington Jones, an Arkansas-born clergyman/lawyer, who moved to Chamberlain, SD and became a noted Chautauqua speaker.

The terrain of Jones County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, partially devoted to agriculture.

The southern areas of the county are carved with gullies and drainages flowing to the White River.

[4] The terrain generally slopes to the northeast, and its highest point is on the lower western boundary, at 2,444 ft (745 m) ASL.

In terms of ancestry in 2016, 39.1% were of German, 14.3% were of Irish, 13.9% were of Norwegian, 11.4% were of Dutch, 6.4% were of English, 6.2 were of French.

Even before the Democratic Party turned towards its modern liberalism, Jones County did not vote for any Democrat except LBJ and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 – and in the latter election when Roosevelt won 46 of 48 states he beat Alf Landon in Jones County by just twelve votes.