Golf became popular in the United States in the late 1880s and Jamestown’s summer residents were among the earliest enthusiasts.

Ellen Tucker, the eldest child of Pardon and Sarah Waite Tucker, was born three days after Christmas in 1847 at the Hutchinson farm on North Road.

In the summer of 1912, Elizabeth Carr Locke, a California-based descendant of Caleb Carr who was in Jamestown for the summer, had 200 posters printed and distributed around the island asking anybody interested in forming a historical society to meet at Town Hall on August 19.

On May 12, 1873, Captain Stephen C. Gardner guided the 79-foot, wood-fueled paddlewheel ferry Jamestown out of the new slip at East Ferry on her maiden voyage between Jamestown and Newport. The age of dependable steam ferry service on the lower Narragansett Bay had begun.

In the years following World War II, marching bands were much in demand. Drum and bugle corps competed against each other, and rivalry was keen. Jamestown had had a Men’s Drum & Bugle Corps in the 1930s, and it was revived early in 1947.

In the 19th century – before the invention of the movie, television, and computer – most people, especially in tiny towns like Jamestown, had to make their own entertainment. Fraternal organizations that provided social activities as well as mutual support and/or intellectual stimulation flourished. Among these organizations were debating societies.

During World War II, Conanicut Island was home to three named forts, all of which are now parks – Fort Burnside at Beavertail, Fort Getty on the West Passage, and Fort Wetherill on the East Passage. Each of the forts was named for a U.S. Army officer who had seen active service in the second half of the 19th century.

In the mid-19th century, the population of Jamestown was declining. The 1870 census counted only 378 people living here. Those remaining knew the town would die if nothing were done.