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.

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Jay County Historical Society!

Our annual Christmas at the Museum celebration will begin with an Open House on Sunday, November 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. Besides the regular Monday through Friday hours, during the holiday season the museum will also be open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 4, 11, and 18.

Each of the schools of Jay County have once again been asked to decorate a tree at the museum. Those visiting the museum may vote for their favorite school tree by bringing items for the Helping Hands Food Pantry to place under that tree. The school with the most items under their tree by Wednesday, December 20, will be awarded a set of Jay County history books for their library.

Because of the economic conditions in the county, we know it is difficult to keep the Food Pantry shelves stocked with needed items and feel this is an excellent way for us to help the less fortunate. You may bring non-perishable food items, paper products, and cleaning or personal hygiene items. Please be aware that out-dated items cannot be distributed by the Food Pantry.

In the past, many of the schools have held food drives at their own building and then have brought those items to the museum. To avoid handling the items extra times and to encourage family visits to the museum, we are asking that the schools do not bring their collections to the museum, but take them directly to the food pantry and give us the count. Items brought to the museum by families will count as two votes. By involving students in decorating the trees, we also hope many of them and their families visit the museum and discover something about Jay County’s history while here.

We encourage those of you who live in the area to bring your family and friends to the museum during the Christmas season. The trees are always uniquely decorated, and the museum is also filled with many other vintage decorations.

Visit our beautiful Christmas tree display beginning Nov. 27!

 Our annual Christmas at the Museum celebration will begin with an Open House on Sunday, November 27 from 1 to 4 p.m.  Besides the regular Monday through Friday hours, during the holiday season the museum will also be open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 4, 11, and 18.

     Each of the schools of Jay County have once again been asked to decorate a tree at the museum.  Those visiting the museum may vote for their favorite school tree by bringing items for the Helping Hands Food Pantry to place under that tree.  The school with the most  items under their tree by Wednesday, December 20, will be awarded a set of Jay County history books for their library. 

     Because of the economic conditions in the county, we know it is difficult to keep the Food Pantry shelves stocked with needed items and feel this is an excellent way for us to help the less fortunate.  You may bring non-perishable food items, paper products, and cleaning or personal hygiene items.  Please be aware that out-dated items cannot be distributed by the Food Pantry.

     In the past, many of the schools have held food drives at their own building and then have brought those items to the museum.  To avoid handling the items extra times and to encourage family visits to  the museum, we are asking that the schools do not bring their collections to the museum, but take them directly to the food pantry and give us the count.  Items brought to the museum by families will count as two votes.  By involving students in decorating the trees, we also hope many of them and their families visit the museum and discover something about Jay County’s history while here.

     We encourage those of you who live in the area to bring your family and friends to the museum during the Christmas season.  The trees are always uniquely decorated, and the museum is also filled with many other vintage decorations.

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.

• Children’s Books
• Fiction Books
• Non-fiction Books

Our Children’s Books are suitable for students in elementary school. Current titles include the following:

• A Journey Through Time (Third grade textbook)
• My Pioneer Childhood In Early Jay County
• Tell Me a Story, Grandpa (Underground Railroad)

Our Fiction Books are historically correct. The characters are based on real people.

• The Odyssey of  the Blue Swan

Our Non-fiction Books are divided into the following subcategories. They are:

• Census, Directory & Land Books
• Cemetery Books
• Church Records
• Communities
• History Books
• Miscellaneous Books

A Journey Through Time (Third Grade Textbook) 80 pages  $10

My Pioneer Childhood in Early Jay County 49 pages $10

Tell Me a Story, Grandpa (Underground Railroad) 12 pages  $5

A Journey Through Time 2008,  80 pages  $10

This history is the current third grade textbook for students in the Jay School Corporation. It tells the early settlement of Jay County, maps showing Jay County’s location, a time line listing the “firsts” in Jay County from 1816-2007. A brief history is given for each of the major communities – Bryant, Dunkirk, New Corydon, Pennville, Portland, Redkey, and Salamonia. Schools featured are Liber College, Farmers’ Academy, Eastern Indiana Normal School, and the current schools in the Jay School Corporation. The county courthouses are featured. This book has a glossary of terms and bibliography.

To purchase materials contact the Jay County Historical Society at 903 East Main Street, Portland, IN 47371. You may call 1-260-726-7168 or e-mail research@jaycountyhistory.org .

My Pioneer Childhood In Early Jay County 49 pages  $10.00
Compiled in 2004 by Janice Stucky in 2004 for the Jay County Historical Society, Inc.

This book was compiled for 3rd grade students through elementary school.
As much as possible, the actual words told to early writers have been used. Each chapter is illustrated. Pioneers had childhood recollections of living in Jay County between 1836 and the 1860s. They include Joseph Cromwell Andrew, Rachel Beekman, Nancy Brooks, Benjamin Franklin Current, Martin VanBuren Coons, Elizabeth Caroline [Hawkins] Clark, James Daniels, Martha Jane [Hesser] Daugherty, Susan Comfort [Andrew] Daugherty, John Edmundson, Jim Edwards, Elizabeth [McKinney] Hall, Catherine [Shrack] Hartman, Joseph Campbell Hawkins, William James Hesser, Clarissa Hoppes, Elijah “Lige” Hoppes, Mary [Shanks] McCoy, Maria [Grissell] Meredith, Dilwyn P. Smith, Rachel Ann [Wilson] Steward, Abraham Studabaker, and William Garner Sutton
To purchase materials contact the Jay County Historical Society at 903 East Main Street, Portland, IN 47371. You may call 1-260-726-7168 or e-mail research@jaycountyhistory.org .

Tell Me A Story, Grandpa  12 pages  $5.00
By Miriam Edmundson – revised edition
This is an original story about the Underground Railroad through the Balbec area in Penn Township. The characters in the story are based on Miriam’s parents, her niece, and her nephew. Betty is a fourth-grade student. She and her younger brother learn of the Underground Railroad Marker at Balbec.
To purchase materials contact the Jay County Historical Society at 903 East Main Street, Portland, IN 47371. You may also call 1-260-726-7168 or e-mail us at research@jaycountyhistory.org.