Editing Jamestown, Kansas (section)

==History==
Jamestown was founded in 1878, and was incorporated as a city in 1883.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC/page/n10 20]}}</ref> It was named for either Senator James Pomeroy,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3YUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA736 | title=Biographical History of Cloud County, Kansas: Biographies of Representative Citizens. Illustrated with Portraits of Prominent People, Cuts of Homes, Stock, Etc. | publisher=Wilson, Humphrey & Company | author=Hollibaugh, E. F. | year=1903 | pages=736}}</ref> or James P. Pomeroy, a railroad official.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n270 163]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=4746 | title=Profile for Jamestown, Kansas | publisher=[[ePodunk]] | accessdate=7 June 2014 | archive-date=14 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204502/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=4746 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n167 168]}}</ref>  A post office was opened in Alva (an extinct town) in 1871, but it was moved to Jamestown in 1878.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:CD | title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 | publisher=Kansas Historical Society | accessdate=6 June 2014}}</ref>  The town located itself on the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwgtAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA118 | title=A Gazetteer of Kansas | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1898 | pages=118}}</ref>

[[File:Jamestown KS 1908.jpg|thumb|left|A school in Jamestown in 1908]]

===1911 fire===
[[File:Jamestown Kansas 1911 fire.jpg|thumb|left|Main street image of Jamestown, Kansas after 1911 fire]] In 1911 the entire downtown business district was destroyed by a fire.  Few records remain of that fire, but the townspeople subsequently rebuilt the downtown commercial district.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/05ksprof.htm#Hill |title=Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development |access-date=2006-12-18 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924062944/http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/05ksprof.htm#Hill |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Three towns in the area had devastating downtown fires on the same night: Jamestown, [[Courtland, Kansas|Courtland]], and [[Glasco, Kansas|Glasco]].  Damage was reported to amount to $500,000 at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/11/29/archives/fire-sweeps-kansas-towns-loss-of-500000-at-jamestown-and-glasco.html|work=[[New York Times]]|date=November 29, 2011|title=FIRE SWEEPS KANSAS TOWNS.; Loss of $500,000 at Jamestown and Glasco -- Train Passengers Save Elbing.|accessdate=April 14, 2020}}</ref>

===2000 fire===
History repeated itself on January 28, 2000 when another fire consumed several buildings on Main Street and spread to the city hall.  And again, history repeated itself as the town rebuilt.  Mayor Judy Hill stated, "A fire like that can destroy a small town, but instead it ignited a community spirit here." In a few days, Jamestown was having town meetings to make plans for the future.<ref name="Huck Boyd, cont">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/05ksprof.htm#Hill |title=Huck Boyd, cont. |access-date=2006-12-18 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924062944/http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/05ksprof.htm#Hill |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Rebuilding town===
The funeral home in Jamestown was selected as the temporary city office and meeting place. More than 50 people (out of a population of 307 at the time) came to town meetings there and the citizens organized into several committees to begin work.

Today, Jamestown has a new community center with daycare facilities and a thriving downtown activities center with a health clinic, public library, and several businesses.<ref name="Huck Boyd, cont"/>