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Jamestown (NY) Destination roll sign. Approximately 52\" x 30\". Appears to be from the early part of the 20th century. 1910-1920??
From Wikipedia:
The Jamestown Street Railway primarily operated as the local,urban transit system for the city of Jamestown, New York, with a few extensionsinto nearby suburban suburbs. To tackleJamestown’s notoriously steep hills and satisfy growing ridership, the networkwas fully electrified in 1891. The first electric car ran down Third Street on June11, 1891. The horse cars were retired, and the system rapidly built out itsfamous city loops and suburban branches out to Lakewood and Falconer.
Despite upgrading its fleet as late as 1926 with modern St.Louis Car Company models (including the now-famous Trolley Car No. 93), thestreetcar could not compete with the rising popularity of private automobilesand more flexible motor buses. The Jamestown Street Railway ran its very finaltrolley cars on Saturday, January 29, 1938, after which all remaining routeswere permanently converted to buses.
Its system consisted of two major suburban lines and fourdistinct city loops that covered almost every section of the city:
Suburban Extensions (Suburbs to City Center)
- The Lakewood Line: Running west from downtown Jamestown, this crucial commuter and leisure line traveled out along the south shore of the lake to the village of Lakewood (terminating near the grand lakeside resorts like the Sterlingworth Inn).
- The Falconer Line: Extending eastward from the center of Jamestown, this line connected the city with the neighboring manufacturing village of Falconer.
The City Loop Lines
Within the city borders, cars operated on dedicated loopsdesigned to handle Jamestown’s notoriously steep hills:
·The Willard Street Line: Serviced theheavily populated, steep hillsides of the southeast side, providing transit forworkers traveling from residential neighborhoods down to the industrial areas.Destination boards on cars serving this line typically read \"Willardvia Third.\"
·The North-Newland Line (or Newland AvenueLine): Provided transit through the south-side neighborhoods along NewlandAvenue.
·The North Side Loop: Covered the northernresidential sectors of the city up toward the hospital and seminary districts.
·The South Side Loop: Snaked through theresidential and manufacturing areas directly south of the Chadakoin River.
From Lakewood, the Chautauqua Traction Company\'s proprietarytracks began, moving northwesterly along the lake line through:
