by Rosemary Enright | Oct 12, 2020 | 2020 Articles, Jamestown History Articles
Gustavus Adolphus Clarke, known as G. Adolphus, was one of Jamestown’s many descendants of Joseph Clarke, one of the original purchasers of Conanicut Island. He was born in Jamestown in 1839, eighth of the nine children of David Wright and Sarah Chaffee Clarke. He...
by JHS | Oct 4, 2020 | From the Collection
Members of the Jamestown Historical Society who grew up on Conanicut Island or spent their summers here will recognize many of the businesses that are found in the JHS Financial records. The letterheads in the JHS collection are receipts for work completed by...
by JHS | Oct 1, 2020 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
In the late 19thcentuy, Jamestown’s population ballooned and the number of farmers, who grew most of their own food, decreased. Purchased produce was in demand, and grocery stores proliferated. By the mid-1980s, regulation and competition had driven most of these...
by Rosemary Enright | Sep 23, 2020 | 2020 Articles, Jamestown History Articles
For the first 30 plus years of their lives the two Tennant sisters lived uneventful lives in their father’s home on Narragansett Avenue. Born in Jamestown in 1873 and 1874 respectively, Hester and Emilie went to Jamestown’s South School in the days of one-room...
by Stephanie Amerigian | Sep 15, 2020 | From the Collection
On October 18, 1930, almost a year after the Great Depression started with the stock market crash on Black Friday, many Jamestowners received a bounty from the sea. Two barges filled with coal, the Henry Howard and the Howard Sisters drifted onto the rocks at...
by JHS | Sep 8, 2020 | Events, JHS in the News
The new brass plaque, sponsored by a grant from the William Pomeroy Foundation, was placed on the mill this summer. The windmill has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. An earlier plaque disappeared several years ago. The National Register...
by Rosemary Enright | Aug 23, 2020 | 2020 Articles, Jamestown History Articles
In early Jamestown through the first half of the 20th century, the area that is now Beavertail State Park was a popular fishing ground. As early as 1754, the Newport Colonial Lighthouse Committee had guaranteed a Right of Way to the water around the lighthouse....
by Stephanie Amerigian | Aug 12, 2020 | From the Collection
Dog tax #1 was first issued to Dr. John Marshall, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, who summered in Jamestown. According to his great grandson, Dr. Marshall, because of his position, was one of the first in Jamestown to request a...
by Stephanie Amerigian | Aug 12, 2020 | From the Collection
Mackerel Cove, Jamestown’s Town Beach, was popular as early as 1890 when L. W. Barringer of Philadelphia proposed to the Town Council the building of a pavilion and bath houses on the site. That project did not come to fruition but in 1925 a Special Town...
by Rosemary Enright | Jul 18, 2020 | 2020 Articles, Jamestown History Articles
The area of town tucked in between Upper Shoreby Hill and the Town Cemetery at the Four Corners was developed in the early 20th century and was known as the Knowles plat. The land belonged to Adolphus C. Knowles, the owner and builder of the Bay View House Tower....
