The JHS collections catalog is online. Search and view the catalog records of material in the collections. The database is a work in progress. If you have any questions or believe you have additional information about any of the items you find here, get in touch. Our Images can be used in accordance with our Image Use Policy, which can be examined here.

Historical Collection & Archives

Ferry Boats & Bridges

Getting to Conanicut Island is important to Jamestown. Ferryboats were in service for over 300 years. The first bridge to connect Jamestown was built across the West Passage in 1940.  The Newport-Pell bridge across the East Passage in 1969.  A large part of the collection is the history of the ferryboats and
effects of the bridges.

Jamestown Summer Resorts

The Resort Era began with the introduction of the steam ferries in 1873. Hundreds of visitors came each summer escaping the congested cities looking for accommodations in hotels, rental cottages, summer camps and boarding houses. Items in our collection include signs, menus, hotel account books, over 1000 photographs of the summer “cottages” and hotels.

Postcard Collection

Our collection of Jamestown postcards roughly span the years 1900 to present day. The importance of postcards cannot be under estimated as it gives us a wealth of knowledge about how our neighborhoods and town looked and may be in some cases, our only record.

 

Colonial Records

Colonial records include the original signed pre-purchase agreement among the men who acquired the islands from the Narragansett, a bill for the building of the second Beavertail Lighthouse in 1755, several Quaker marriage contracts, and documents about the town’s preparations for the American Revolution.

Military History

Until the late 20th century, the military – sensitive to its strategic location in Narragansett Bay – maintained forts and other installations on the island. Flags, signs, and records of the use of local forts for detention of prisoners of war, as well as photographs of the military at the various installations, record the federal government’s influence.

 

Jamestown Library

Papers and periodicals in the local history collection at the Jamestown Philomenian Library are included in the catalog. Programs from events, records of student awards, and articles about real estate transaction and artistic endeavors give insight into the public life of the town.

Collections News

Clara Lewis, Teacher at Clarke School

Clara Lewis, Teacher at Clarke School

Clara was the daughter of Clara Silvia Furtado and Manual Dutra Lewis who immigrated from Fayal Island Azores and were married January 14, 1906 in the Parish of St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle in Newport. Manual and Clara had two daughters, Mary Lewis, who married...

Jamestown’s Working Farms

Jamestown’s Working Farms

From Jamestown’s very beginning to the present day, working farms make up a considerable portion of the acres on our island. According to a map produced in 1933 to show all the farms of Jamestown at the turn of the twentieth century, at that time most of the land was...

National Register of  Historical Places in Jamestown

National Register of Historical Places in Jamestown

The National Register, authorized by the National Historical Preservation Act of 1966, is the official list of the Nation’s historical places worthy of preservation. To qualify for this register, a property must convey an accurate and authentic sense of its past and...