The 1866 book "Over the Atlantic and Great Western Railway", written by an English financial reporter, described Jamestown as:
"... a sweet place, with sweet surroundings. It is to Ohio, and particularly Cincinnati, what Hastings or Southend is to London - a quiet, middle-class watering-place. Already [May 15, 1866] every vacant house has been secured for the summer months. The attractions of Jamestown are its cheerful look, it fine prospects from the mountains, and its glorious lake. The lake, Chautauqua, is barely a mile from the town, and is reputed to be the highest navigable water on the American continent, being 1290 feet above the level of the Atlantic, and 730 feet above Lake Erie. Fish of all sorts abound; but the favourite is the pickerel, which not unfrequently weighs 40 lb. But the lake is also useful, and long has been so, to the plodding Dutchmen and others, who settled on its borders before railways superceded the teams, which made dry goods pilgrimages to Erie or Buffalo one or twice a year, Upon the lake there were places at an early period sail and row boats, and these not only kept up communication with the outer world, but induced the outer world to come in with some freeness, and enjoy a land literally flowing with milk and honey. Will it be believed, that during the butter season Jamestown send daily to New York, by the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, the considerable quantity of ten to fifteen tons of butter; and that during the cheese season it sends a corresponding supply of cheese? And, with the single exception of Orange County cheese and butter, those of Jamestown command, and have long commanded, the highest prices in New York.
Manufactures also flourish. There are four saw-mills, three furniture factories, one piano factory, two woolen factories, three sash, door and blind factories, two machine shops, two edge tools shops, and a gas-work. There are also five hotels, three banks, eight churches, and two newspapers. The water power is second best in the State of New York"
The primary railroad of Jamestown has always been the east-west main line between New York and Chicago. Jamestown was linked the rest of the world on August 25, 1860 when the first train arrived from New York on the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. The A&GW was reorganized in March 1880 as the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio (NYPANO), which was leased and later purchased by the Erie Railroad. In 1962, the Erie merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) to form the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad which itself was merged into Conrail in 1976.
News articles from the Jamestown newspapers in 1860 describe the approach of the rails, the debate over the location of the depot, and the ceremony celebrating the completion of the line to Jamestown. A 1902 article from the Jamestown newspaper describes the early years of the A&GW in Jamestown from the point of view of early company workers.
The former Erie Railroad trackage through Jamestown is now operated by the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. (Note: This is different from the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad that operated between Emporium, PA and Buffalo and was absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad early in the 20th century.)
The passenger station and the yard office remain and the following page shows what they looked like as of the summer of 1997.
The Chautauqua Lake Railway reached Jamestown in 1887 and extended north along the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake through Mayville to Brocton. It was originally a steam railroad, but in 1913 the line was electrified and became the Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern Railroad. The Jamestown station for this road was at the Boatlanding at the foot of Chautauqua Lake.
The Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern was an electric railroad which ran from Jamestown to Westfield. Passenger operations ended November 30, 1947. The line began diesel powered freight service which continued until January 21, 1950.
The Warren & Jamestown Street Railway served its namesake cities from 1905 to 1929.
The Jamestown Street Railway provided streetcar service within Jamestown and nearby towns. It started as a horse car railway and was later electrified.