Jamestown, New York

Peter A. Lombardi

Description

New York's small cities are little-known treasure troves of American history. Among them, Jamestown stands out with a memorable and engaging cityscape highlighted by steep hills, brick streets, a remarkably intact city center, and numerous buildings of historical and architectural interest.

Peter A. Lombardi's Jamestown, New York chronicles the development of this Southern Tier city's built environment over two-hundred years—from a frontier outpost, to a leading maker of furniture and textiles, to a reenergized postindustrial city. Part one provides a short history of Jamestown, emphasizing the economic and social forces that have influenced the city's architecture and development patterns. Part two includes detailed entries on more than one hundred buildings and sites, with maps to facilitate walking and driving tours. This comprehensive guide to New York's Pearl City illuminates the stories behind the buildings, connecting Jamestown's past and present to the evolution of urban America.
Acknowledgments
Preface

Part I: The Evolution of the City and Its Surroundings

Part II: A Survey of Buildings and Urban Spaces

Downtown
North
West
East
South

Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Local history
• Region
• History of the Americas
• Regional
• Architecture

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 09 avril 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438449944
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Jamestown, New York
Jamestown, New York
A Guide to the City and Its Urban Landscape
Peter A. Lombardi
Cover art courtesy of Brenda Stynes
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu
Production by Eileen Nizer Marketing by Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lombardi, Peter A.
Jamestown, New York : a guide to the city and its urban landscape / Peter A. Lombardi. pages cm. — (Excelsior editions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-4992-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Architecture—New York (State)—Jamestown—Guidebooks. 2. Jamestown (N.Y.)—Buildings, structures, etc.—Guidebooks. 3. Jamestown (N.Y.)— Guidebooks. I. Title.
NA735.B83L66 2013
720.9747'95—dc23
2013015939
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Part I: The Evolution of the City and Its Surroundings
Part II: A Survey of Buildings and Urban Spaces
Downtown
North
West
East
South
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Many individuals and organizations made this book possible, all of whom are due my considerable thanks and gratitude. Many thanks to Joni Blackman and the staff at the Fenton History Center for providing generous assistance from the start of the project, including access to the museum’s library, vertical files, and archival material, and answers to many questions about Jamestown’s geography and history. Also providing a deep perspective on local history were Jamestown architects Robert Black and Steven Sandberg, who reviewed the book’s survey of buildings and furnished thoughtful comments based on their extensive knowledge of architecture and local architectural practice.
Also, my gratitude to the University at Buffalo, where I have had the privilege to learn, work, and teach, for offering a variety of helpful research materials through its library system and a setting to buckle-down and write the early stages of the project. Dr. Jack Quinan, a professor of architectural history at the University at Buffalo, inspired this project in his Modern Architecture course by assigning a descriptive analysis of local buildings that gave me the confidence to write about architecture. Inspiration also came through Buffalo Architecture: a Guide , a book co-authored by Dr. Quinan in 1981 that sparked my early interest in city planning and provided a template for this project.
To SUNY Press whose commitment to preserving and telling the history of New York State and its communities has been critical to realizing this project, along with Amanda Lanne and Rafael Chaiken at SUNY Press, who have provided much support and assistance—thank you all. For developing the book’s maps and cover illustration, my thanks go to Brenda Stynes, a talented graphic designer and friend. And for providing several sharp photographs to the survey of buildings, my sincere thanks to Cathleen Abers-Kimball.
A special thank you goes to Kathryn Foster, a teacher, mentor, and friend, whose encouragement has been instrumental. I would have lacked the nerve to pursue this project and persist through its many phases without her support. Special gratitude is also owed to my colleagues at the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, whose passion for a better Jamestown inspires me every day.
And, finally, a never-ending thank you to my family, whose love and support have kept me going, and who listen to me prattle on about historical trivia with tolerance and good humor.
Peter A. Lombardi
Photograph and Illustration Credits
Contemporary photographs on the following pages were contributed by Cathleen Abers-Kimball: 44 , 46 , 62 , 65 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 73 , 76 , 79 , 80 , 90 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 103 , 111 , 124 , 134 , 137 , 140 , 143 , and 144 . All other photographs, unless otherwise noted by caption, were contributed by the author. The cover illustration and maps on pages 41 , 89 , 109 , 123 , and 133 were developed by Brenda Stynes.
Preface
The built environment is filled with clues about the people, events, and forces that have contributed over time to the places we experience today. For Jamestown—a city ensconced in the Allegheny foothills of western New York State—the river, factories, homes, parks, streets, civic buildings, and everything in between can be used to construct a compelling narrative about Jamestown as a distinct place and Jamestown as a typical American city. Much of this narrative, however, is hidden in plain sight.
This book is designed to assist the reader in “reading” Jamestown’s built environment—to detect the stories embedded within its structures and spaces, and to understand the city they see in the early twenty-first century. Part I: The Evolution of the City and its Surroundings offers a brief history of Jamestown and the factors that have molded it over 200 years, resulting in the wide assortment of styles, land uses, and development patterns that define the contemporary city.
Part II: A Survey of Buildings and Urban Spaces profiles over 100 existing structures and sites within the city’s limits. Divided geographically into five sections (Downtown, North, West, East, and South), it contains basic information and a short commentary for each entry. The numbers given to the entries correspond to maps at the beginning of each section, which can be used to identify the locations of buildings and to undertake self-guided tours.

Part II entry sample.
Rather than a comprehensive catalog of Jamestown buildings, this book includes places that contribute the most to an understanding of the modern city due to their architectural or functional significance, or to their connection to events, individuals, or transitions that were influential to the city’s development. Although not every notable building in the city has been included in the book, those that have been included establish the general context for understanding the rest of the city.
Many of the buildings included in Part II are open to the public, but many are not. When using this book to tour the city and its neighborhoods, please respect the privacy of building owners and occupants.
Jamestown’s compact geography makes it an especially practical city to explore on foot—a pace that allows one to seek, find, and interpret the clues that tell a story about urban America and its unique expression in the southwestern corner of New York. As you explore the city to compile your own observations and impressions, consider this book your translator and guide.
Part I
The Evolution of the City and Its Surroundings

Unless you’re looking for it, the Chadakoin River is easy to miss as it winds across Jamestown on its narrow, serpentine path. Slipping through forested swamps, beneath bridges, and behind forgotten factories, the river keeps to the shadows—a nearly silent and invisible witness to the city born on its banks two centuries ago.
For many years, the Chadakoin was much more conspicuous. Churned by the wheels of sawmills and steamboats, this outlet of Chautauqua Lake played major roles in Jamestown’s settlement and the daily drama of its early residents. As an obstacle, energy source, and transportation route, it shaped the character of the city’s physical and economic growth. As an open sewer, its smell, alone, made it hard to ignore.
Now placid and discreet, the river reflects the mature city that surrounds it. Since Jamestown’s swift expansion between 1890 and 1930, when its population quadrupled, its industrial prowess peaked, and most of its current infrastructure was built, the city has been a quieter, less turbulent place.
But cities, however quiet, are never static. As their residents adjust to a changing world and react to forces within and beyond their control, they reinvent themselves and the city around them, finding new purpose for a piece of land, a building, a street. Even a river takes on new meaning and uses. Over time, these adjustments add new layers of detail to the built environment, mixing with earlier layers to form a dynamic backdrop to daily life.
Jamestown’s built environment expresses numerous cycles of change and reinvention. The city’s buildings and landscapes also say something about the human spark—about the drive and ingenuity to sculpt a statue, to splash a building with color and ornament, to render a stirring vista, to cultivate gardens and minds, and to imagine a city on the swift-flowing outlet of a glacier-gouged lake.
Finding a Home, Harnessing the Rapids
Almost two decades after the Revolutionary War, the American frontier crept its way into western New York. Along rough trails and narrow waterways, migrants made their way to uncertain destinations, searching for new homes and new lives. Jamestown’s emergence as an attractive place to end one’s search began with two participants in this westward wave: James Prendergast