May 17, 2012Broadhead Enterprises
Located at 130 South Main Street
William Broadhead, 1819 – 1910, came to Jamestown in 1843 from Thornton, Yorkshire, England as a blacksmith. After participating in several smithing enterprises, he became interested in quality textiles and formed William Broadhead & Sons, a clothing store.
In 1873, after visiting his homeland where the weaving industry flourished, he helped to form the firm of Hall, Broadhead & Turner Alpaca Mill. In 1875, William Broadhead, with his sons Almet N. and Sheldon B., formed the Broadhead Worsted Mill on East First Street. They later acquired the Hall’s Mill on Harrison Street, which then became the Jamestown Worsted Mills. The two mills employed thousands of persons.
Almet bought the Jamestown Street Railway and converted horse-drawn cars to electric trolleys, serving Jamestown and the area. He purchased the Chautauqua Lake Navigation Company, which operated one of the fleets of lake steamers on Chautauqua Lake. He further promoted access to the lake by building the Chautauqua Traction Company electric trolley line on the west side of the lake connecting Jamestown with Westfield. He had meanwhile electrified a steam railroad on the east side of the lake, which was named the Jamestown Westfield and Northwestern Railway Company, connecting Jamestown with Westfield and the New York Central Railroad for both freight and passenger service.
Almet acquired Celoron Park and established Midway Amusement Park to promote the use of the trolley lines. In West Ellicott he built what was then the largest greenhouse in the nation, the Lake View Rose Gardens. The Broadheads' Jamestown Shale Paving Company furnished bricks for many Jamestown streets.
There were many other noteworthy accomplishments of the William Broadhead family.
BROADHEAD ENTERPRISES
HERE WAS THE HOME OF WILLIAM BROADHEAD, INDUS- TRIAL PIONEER. FOUNDER IN 1875 OF BROADHEAD WORSTED MILLS. HIS SONS, ALMET N. AND SHELDON B. CONTINUED THE TEXTILE OPERATIONS, MEANWHILE DEVELOPING CITY AND REGIONAL TROLLEY AND STEAM- BOAT LINES, AMUSEMENT PARKS, COMMERCIAL ROSE GARDENS AND BRICK MANUFACTURING.