John Jay Hawkins and his family settled in Jay County in 1829,  and he was the first white man to die in the county.  After much hard work and enterprise, his descendants became successful as bankers, merchants, attorneys and legislators. The  picture on the left is his son Nathan B. Hawkins and his grandson, N. B. Hawkins, Jr., is in the picture on the right.  Our museum is located on the former estate of Morton C. Hawkins, the son of N. B., Jr. Click on the link below to read more:

One of the most popular displays in the museum is our collection of graduation  pictures from a time when there were eight high schools in the county. Those schools were Bryant, Dunkirk, Gray, Madison, Pennville, Poling, Portland, and Redkey. The high schools were consolidated in 1976.