Welcome to Jay County History

The Jay County Historical Society welcomes you! We are proud of our work collecting, preserving, and displaying the rich heritage of Jay County, Indiana, the only “Jay” County in the United States. Come see the 11,000 square foot Jay County Historical Museum. Admission is free, and the museum is handicapped accessible. The museum is staffed by dedicated volunteers who would be happy to share Jay County’s history with you. It offers visitors a unique glimpse of bygone times here in east central Indiana.

Children play at the fair near Floral Hall in 1892

 Sunday museum open houses occur frequently throughout the year. In the early fall, our Jay County Heritage Festival has history-related fun and entertainment for all ages on the grounds of the museum, and admission is free. End-of-year holiday time brings special indoor activities at the museum, as well. 

The Jay County Historical Society is supported mostly through membership dues and donations. Please consider joining the Society. Members receive the Jay County Journal, our monthly newsletter with articles about both current events and historical topics in addition to a mystery picture. We also sponsor informative and interesting monthly program meetings at the museum. An annual dinner meeting for members is held in November with a special program and election of the board of directors. 

Thanks to the Portland Foundation for our recent grant. 

Thank you to The Indiana Arts Commision and The National Endowment for the Arts for a grant to help fund our ninth annual Heritage Festival.

Several books have been added to the sales racks at the museum recently.
We’ve previously mentioned “From the Ground Up,” written by Portland physician, Dr. Eugene Gillum. This book on aviation shows how Jay County has been affected by that industry. It introduces us to the first thoughts men had about trying to fly like the birds.  It was 120 years after the first balloon flight when the Wright brothers made their historic flight in 1903.  The Wrights were visitors here, as they had relatives living in Jay County. This books sells for $10.
“From the Farm to the Factory — The Early History of Manufacturing in Jay County, Indiana,” written by Jane Ann Spencer and edited by Katheryn Crown and Janice Stucky was released during the Heritage Festival. This book focuses on the industries that were established in the earliest part of Jay County’s history, beginning with those related to the needs of the county’s residents. A few of the factories discussed in the book are the Bimel Auto Spoke and Wheel Company, glass factories in Dunkirk and Redkey, Portland Forge and Foundary Company, Sheller Manufacturing Corporation, Haynes Milling Company, Willman-Hampton Bakery, Naas Foods, Incorporated, the Jay Garment Company, and the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. The book’s cost is $20.
A new compilation of “Jay County’s Cemetery Locations” has been done by Jane Spencer and Janice Stucky. This book, which costs $5, is a very useful tool for genealogists. The book has a township map showing cemetery locations on one page with the information about those cemeteries on the facing page.
Also for the genealogist, compilations of most of the “Obits Published in the Commercial Review” are available for individual years from 1991 to 2010. These books, which were assembled by Cathy Jo Garringer, are indexed by both maiden and married name. See our Museum Store for individual book prices, which vary due to the number of pages in each book.
Other books to be published soon are the “1821-1971 Sesquicentennial Souvenir of New Corydon” and reprints of the “1975 Bryant Area Centennial.”
Be sure to check our Museum Store for all of the books available for purchase at the museum. Many of these are enjoyable reading for the history buff as well as useful tools for genealogical research.