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The Enterprise
Historical marker sought in Jamesville
Sometimes, when the wind blows just right, echoing through the woods of Jamesville and out across the Roanoke River, a low, mournful, lonely sound of a “train” can be heard — reminding listeners of what once was. If Charles “Bo” Dickerson has his way, Martin County will soon have a more permanent reminder than the wind in the trees of a railroad bed that once existed here, connecting the Jamesville river to the Pamlico in Washington. Dickerson has set into motion a request for a N.C. Highway Historical Marker to commemorate the Jamesville and Washington (J&W) Railroad and Lumber Company that started here in 1869 and closed in 1897. The track leading to Washington was approximately 22.57 miles long and had one stop off in between. What was once known as Dymond City, a bustling town with a 32-room hotel, eventually died out when the railroad stopped running. The train made one round trip in a day, said Dickerson. “It put Martin County on the map big time,” he said. “Also, Beaufort County and even Washington County because of the lumber and produce and grain they hauled for the farmers.” Dickerson owns land where the Jamesville terminus was located and