Jay City, Indiana
Jay City was a small settlement on the south bank of the Wabash River in Wabash Township, Jay County, Indiana, across from New Corydon and about 15 miles northeast of Portland. It was laid out on June 7, 1840, by Samuel Hall and David Hite. By 1887 it had about 50 residents and included a blacksmith, a wagon maker, a brick and tile factory one mile south, and a general store started by William L. Adams in 1874. It was served by the New Corydon post office.
The community had mills as well: a saw mill built in 1858 and a grist mill in 1859 by John Hall and Vynull Arnett, later turned into a stave and shingle mill. The mills changed hands to McCampbell & Burgess, and the grist mill closed around 1882, followed by the saw mill.
Religion and schools: The Jay City United Brethren chapel opened in 1872. By 1887 the congregation reached about 56 people, with a year-round Sunday school of around 30. The building measured about 32 by 46 feet. Nearby churches included Fellowship Church (founded around 1863, 35–40 members, Sunday school 50–60) and Walnut Grove Church of the United Brethren (built around 1887, about 20 members; meetings began in a schoolhouse in 1879). A Masonic lodge met on the second floor of Adams’s general store but stopped around 1871.
Today Jay City is no longer an active town and remains only as a name on older maps in Jay County.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:14 (CET).