The story
Read it all →How Jamestown came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Jamestown.
Jamestown was platted in 1816, and named after Jamestown, Virginia, the native home of a first settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Jamestown
Jamestown’s post office opened in 1823, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Jamestown Opera House and the Wickersham House. Below: old-book passages.
1823first post office
2on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Jamestown began
When was Jamestown founded?
1823
The Jamestown post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 2,052203 years
How historic is Jamestown?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Jamestown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jamestown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jamestown is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jamestown’s overall grade.
Founding era1823, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194045.2% of homes (±10.8) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register2 listings, 9.0 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 92%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Jamestown’s 9.0 sits above most of its state (73% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Jamestown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Jamestown’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jamestown’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Jamestown, 1823 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Jamestown in 1918
Passages that mention Jamestown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Greene County, Ohio1918 · page 754Read the page →
Read the text
returned to Ohio and became engaged in farming in Greene county, but three years later returned to Clinton county and there made his residence for eight years, at the end of which time he came back into Greene county and located on a farm just south of the village of Jamestown, where he remained for twelve years, moving thence to a farm in the vicinity of the village of Xew Jasper, where he made his home for another period of twelve years, at the end of which time he retired from the farm and moved to Jamestown, where he has since made his home. UiX)n taking up his residence in Jamestown
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Greene County, Ohio1918 · page 597Read the page →
Read the text
Father Conroy is an earnest and energetic j-oung clergyman and during his pastorate at Jamestown has ilone much to build up his parish and to create a livelier interest in the affairs of the church. Since his arrival in Jamestown several new Catholic families have located there, with a resultant addition to the membership of the church, there now being thirty-four families in the parish, and admirable progress is reported along all lines of parish work. Father Conroy is a member of the Knights of Columbus, affiliated with the council of that order at Xenia, and takes a warm interest in the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Jamestown, decade by decade
2016
2016
2015
2011
2008
2004On the National Register
2 historic places in Jamestown
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Jamestown Opera House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late Victorian1
Romanesque1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Jamestown
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Jamestown’s history
What year was Jamestown founded?
The Jamestown post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Jamestown rank for history?
Jamestown is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Jamestown?
Two places: the Jamestown Opera House (listed 2007) and the Wickersham House (2018).
How old are the homes in Jamestown?
45% of Jamestown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1951.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.