Jamestown’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Jamestown. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Jamestown was founded in 1878, and was incorporated as a city in 1883. It was named for either Senator James Pomeroy, or James P. Pomeroy, a railroad official. A post office was opened in Alva (an extinct town) in 1871, but it was moved to Jamestown in 1878. The town located itself on the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
In 1911 the entire downtown business district was destroyed by a fire. Few records remain of that fire, but the townspeople subsequently rebuilt the downtown commercial district. Three towns in the area had devastating downtown fires on the same night: Jamestown, Courtland, and Glasco. Damage was reported to amount to $500,000 at the time.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Jamestown’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jamestown’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewJamestown KS 1908, 1908: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Jamestown, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Jamestown is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Jamestown has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Brown Grand Opera House in Concordia, 10.7 miles away.
Jamestown and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Jamestown KS 1908 (1908) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.