Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) small-time, second-rate, mediocre; of a railroad, secondary.

1913		J. London Valley of the Moon (1914) 519: They ain’t a jerk burg we hit all the time on the road that I couldn’t jump into an’ make a go.
1917		‘A-No. 1’ From Coast to Coast with Jack London 119: The milepost also told that the next stop was Marysvale, the terminal of the ‘jerk’ line.
1951		C. Stoker Thicker ’n Thieves 27: ‘Do you think I’d stay in this jerk burg?’ he jeered.
1978		H. Selby Jr Requiem for a Dream (1987) 250: Alice had split, gone back to her family in some jerk town in Georgia.