Jamestown, New York

For other places with this name, see Jamestown.

Jamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the USA. The population was 31,730 at the 2000 census.

The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake. To the west of the city is an area (Census Enumeration District) known as West Ellicott.

History

The City of Jamestown was incorporated in 1886. The city has been a center for the manufacture of wood products such as furniture as well as a major producer of mattresses. The town was once called the "Furniture Capital of the World." Although much of these industries have migrated away from the area in recent times, Jamestown still retains a few large manufacturing plants for various multinational corporations.

The city has a large concentration of citizens of Swedish and Italian ancestry.

Geography

Jamestown is located at (42.095457, -79.238619).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.5 km² (9.1 mi²). 23.3 km² (9.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Being close to the Appalachian Mountains, Jamestown's elevation profile is relatively disjunct. A large hill on the west side of town is known as Swede Hill.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 31,730 people, 13,558 households, and 7,904 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,364.3/km² (3,534.6/mi²). There were 15,027 housing units at an average density of 646.1/km² (1,673.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.52% White, 3.39% African American, 0.64% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.80% from other races, and 2.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.94% of the population.

There were 13,558 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,837, and the median income for a family was $33,675. Males had a median income of $30,003 versus $20,039 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,316. About 15.8% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

Major Businesses

The Jamestown area has a few large manufacturing plants that are major employers in this region. These include Bush Industries (makers of ready-to-assemble furniture), Cummins Inc. (manufacturer of diesel engines, the heavy duty engine plant is located in Lakewood, just west of Jamestown, but is named Jamestown Engine Plant - JEP), MRC Bearings, Valeo (a plant under its Engine Cooling division is located here) and Truck-Lite (makers of truck lighting systems).

Additional information about Jamestown

The Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport (JHW) is north of the city and provides scheduled and charter air service.

Jamestown has one campus of Jamestown Community College. Jamestown Business College provides two-year degrees and certificates in the business field.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson attended Jamestown High School

Jamestown is also the hometown and birthplace of television legend Lucille Ball.

Musician Natalie Merchant and the rock band 10,000 Maniacs also call Jamestown home.

Naturalist, artist, educator, and photographer Roger Tory Peterson was also born in Jamestown and is remembered through the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.

The Fenton Museum of History is named after former resident Reuben Fenton, the twenty-fifth governor of New York.

The Red Raider Marching Band from Jamestown High School is one of the most traveled high school marching bands in the country, having been as far as Hawaii, and appearing on such shows as The Late Show with David Letterman.

Singer Nick Carter was originally from Jamestown, though he grew up elsewhere.

According to Sister Cities International, Jamestown has two sister cities: Jakobstad, Finland and Gjakova, Serbia

This is the home city for the Jamestown Jammers baseball team.

External links

Chautauqua County, New York | Cities in New York