by JHS | Mar 18, 2022 | 2022 Articles, Jamestown History Articles
The first post office in Jamestown was established in 1847. At the time, women were less than 1 percent of federal Postmasters, and the Postmaster’s salary was a percentage of the stamps sold. Mail was not delivered door-to-door; it was held by the Postmaster for...
by JHS | Mar 14, 2022 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
Back in 1849, there was a New York City baseball team called the Knickerbockers. During their games, they wore straw caps to protect themselves from the sun. This was the first version of the billed cap we know as a baseball cap. Players experimented with various...
by JHS | Mar 9, 2022 | From the Collection
This lighthouse is located in the West Passage just north of the Jamestown Bridge. It was completed in 1899 and served to warn vessels away from the Plum Beach shoal which extended east from the Narragansett shore toward Conanicut Island. In 1918 granite riprap was...
by JHS | Feb 24, 2022 | 2022 Articles
Jamestown’s Gilded Age, like Newport’s, reached its pinnacle with the hotel boom, and a vast workforce of manual laborers propelled the growing town into the 20th century. Hundreds of them were African Americans: butlers, cooks, washerwomen, coachmen and expressmen....
by JHS | Feb 13, 2022 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
The JHS library exhibit for February displays some of the smaller signs and plaques from the Jamestown Historical Society’s collection of signs. Many of the larger ones are on permanent display in the town’s Recreation Center lobby and the back stairwell of Town...
by JHS | Feb 4, 2022 | From the Collection
The Jamestown Historical Society has a remarkable collection of signs that served wildly different purposes Modern businesses – from the hotels of Jamestown’s resort era to the stores and restaurants on Narragansett Avenue today – announced their existence with...
by JHS | Jan 16, 2022 | JHS in the News, Library Exhibits
Some of the earliest donations to the Jamestown Historical Society collection reflect an age that in 1912 was just ending with the introduction of electricity. Wick trimmers were already out of date by 1919 when the first wick trimmer was added to the collection. The...
by JHS | Jan 13, 2022 | 2022 Articles
Soon after Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, SC, in April 1861, Rhode Island was called on to supply troops to suppress the rebellion. Training the raw recruits was of prime importance, and Jamestown was the site of two training camps: Camp Bailey on Dutch...
by JHS | Jan 5, 2022 | From the Collection
In the JHS Collection are examples, spanning almost 200 years, of Jamestowners’ interest in collecting and sharing their favorite recipes. In 1825 Lydia Ann Gould created handwritten Receipts for Sarah C. Green. In those days the two terms, receipt and recipe, were...
by JHS | Dec 30, 2021 | 2021 Articles
During the holiday season in the 21st century Christians of many faiths celebrate the birthday of Jesus with Christmas parties and presents. Jews gather for Hanukkah, the festival of lights. Americans of African heritage express their unity at Kwanzaa. The early...
