Town of Jamestown
Updated Demographic and Economic Characteristics
* Annual information for 2000-2006 is available by downloading this Excel file
Government
Town Hall
93 Narragansett Ave.
Jamestown, RI 02835
Fax: 401-423-7229
Hours: 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
- Established: 1639
- Incorporated: 1678
- Form of government: An appointed town administrator and a five-member town council headed by a council president.
- Council meetings: The second and fourth Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Financial town meeting held annually the first Monday in March.
- Fiscal year begins: March 1
A summary profile of Census 2000 characteristics is available from the RI Office of Statewide Planning at: http://www.planning.ri.gov/census/citytown.htm
Community Links
Hyperlinks provided by the Office of Municipal Affairs, Rhode Island Department of Administration.
- Jamestown homepage
- Jamestown Chamber of Commerce
- Jamestown municipal departments and officials
- Find Jamestown's state senator and representative
- Newport County Chamber of Commerce
- Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau
- The Jamestown Press
- Area points of interest and attractions: please visit the state tourism website
History
Conanicut Island, because of its location at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, has been considered strategically important since the first white colonists settled in Rhode Island. John Winthrop, governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote to Roger Williams asking that the island be settled and fortified to deter any attack through the "back door of Boston.” In 1656, Benedict Arnold, William Coddigan and several others from Newport purchased the island, whose name commemorates the Sachem Canonicus, of the Narragansett Indians. Jamestown was incorporated on November 4, 1678, and was renamed in honor of Pronce James, later James II. Because it is an island, it has never been developed as a commercial area or port, but rather as a quiet residential town. In 1940, the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge was completed connecting Jamestown with the mainland. The new Newport Bridge, completed in 1969, gave Jamestown access to both sides of Narragansett Bay. The island is 9.5 square miles with a good highway system following most of its shoreline. The south end of Beavertail Lighthouse is a high rocky coast projecting into the Atlantic Ocean, where some of the best surfcast fishing in the world can be found. Narragansett Bay surrounds the northern end of the island.
Historically, Jamestown is in the middle of the Bicentennial picture. You may walk Narragansett Avenue where the British marched in 1775 while burning the town. Indian and colonial artifacts from pre-historic and early settlements are displayed in the Sydney L. Wright Museum. Memorabilia from the 300-year-old Jamestown Ferry System can be seen in the Jamestown Museum.
Irena Nedeljkovic-Cunningham