File:Jamestown. The old ANZ Bank. A grand 19th century classical style building. (44043916505).jpg

Jamestown. John Bristow Hughes took out the first pastoral lease in this area in 1841. The country is high, with good and reliable rainfall and ideal for pastoralism. He named his property Bundaleer. This was later held by Charles B Fisher. The other early pastoral run near the township was Old Canowie established by Daniel Cudmore. The hundred was surveyed in 1870-71 and the land opened up to small farmers. The town itself was surveyed in 1871 and named after the Governor of South Australia, Sir James Fergusson. The Scottish influence is still present in Jamestown with many Scottish street names. The Main Street is called Ayr Street and is especially wide for a country town. The District Council was formed a few years later in 1875. Within a few years the town was well established and was one of the largest towns in the mid north in the 1882 census after Port Augusta and Port Pirie. In 1882 the town had almost 1,000 people. Jamestown is situated on the banks of Belalie Creek.

The first shop or business in Jamestown was a saddlery which opened in 1872. The butcher’s shop in Jamestown is meant to be the oldest butcher shops in South Australia. Dr Cockburn’s House built in 1876 still stands in the extension of the Main Street. Other old buildings in the Main Street area include the Lutheran Church, built in 1876 for the Presbyterians; St James Catholic Church, built in 1929, the Memorial Hall built as the Institute in 1876 and the Uniting Church built as a Wesleyan church in 1878.