Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Jay

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Jay

Jay’s post office opened in 1902

Most of Jay was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1940 on.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Jay’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Jay began

When was Jay founded?

1902

The Jay post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 524124 years
Founding year: the first Jay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jay’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Jay came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jay.

Read it all →

In 1821, Spain formally yielded possession of Spanish Florida to the United States and it became the Florida Territory in 1822. Santa Rosa County was created in 1842, three years before Florida became a state in 1845. The Town of Jay was known in the early 1800s as "Cobb Old Field", but was later known as "Pine Level". It is located about 38 miles north of Pensacola and 27 miles north of Milton, Florida, and about 3 miles from the Escambia County, Alabama, state line.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jay, 1902 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Jay post office opens
  3. 1939Born hereJackie Moore is born here
  4. 1939Born hereBob Zellner is born here
  5. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
By decade

Jay, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
FL4 East in Jay - Milton Sign2018FL4 East in Jay - Milton SignFL4 East - FL89 CR197 Signs2018FL4 East - FL89 CR197 SignsFLMap-doton-Jay2004FLMap-doton-Jay
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
Retake this viewFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)], 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jay’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Jay

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jackie MooreAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1939
Bob ZellnerAmerican civil rights activist · b. 1939

Questions about Jay’s history

What year was Jay founded?

The Jay post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.