Jamestown, city in Chautauqua County, southwestern New York, at the southern end of Chautauqua Lake. Jamestown's furniture industry dates from the 1870s. Among its many other manufactures are motor-vehicle parts, plywood, and machinery. Located in a fruit- and vegetable-growing region, the city is also the focus of a summer resort area. A community college, a civic center, the Fenton Historical Center, and the Burgeson Wildlife Sanctuary are located here. The Chautauqua Institution (1874), a cultural center, is nearby. Jamestown is named for James Prendergast, who settled the area in 1811; it was incorporated as a city in 1886. Many Swedish immigrants settled in Jamestown in the mid-19th century, and their descendants comprise a significant number of the city's inhabitants. Population 35,775 (1980); 34,681 (1990); 31,730 (2000).
