Jay County: Motor History, Museums and Nature

Jay County offers something for different kinds of trips: large machinery events, collections devoted to glass and regional history, and landscapes featuring marshland, forest, and prairie. Travelers planning around an event date have different priorities from guests who want to focus on museums, historic buildings, or nature.

Machinery, shows, and event dates

Jay County is home to the world’s largest Gas Engine and Tractor Show. The Antique Gas Engine & Tractor Show features more than 3,000 engines and 800 tractors. There are also 150 vendors selling antiques and crafts. The event thus showcases both historic machinery and the antiques and handmade goods on offer. Visitors especially interested in the history of technology will find a different focus here than on a trip devoted primarily to museums or landscapes.

The Jay County Fair has been held since 1853; its program includes truck and tractor pulling. Another recurring event is the annual Vintage Bike Show. It is billed as the largest gathering of its kind in the United States and includes a swap meet and an auction. If one of these events is the reason for your trip, check the specific dates in advance. This lets you plan around the event that matters most to you.

Glass, regional history, and historic buildings

The Jay County Historical Museum is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the county. It covers 11,000 square feet and displays thousands of artifacts dating back to 1838. The Glass Museum offers a different focus: its exhibits include 25 stained-glass windows and hundreds of mouth-blown and hand-pressed glass creations. It also tells the story of Dunkirk’s past through 8,000 glass objects from 110 factories around the world. The collections offer distinct ways to explore regional history and glass art.

The Jay County Courthouse is also distinguished by its materials and interior: the building is made of Bedford limestone and features columns, marble walls, and marble floors. Paintings in the rotunda depict early pioneers, the first log cabin, and the Battle of Shiloh. In Portland, the Historic District spans five blocks of historically significant buildings and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Another landmark there is the Bowstring Truss Bridge: a concrete arch bridge that spans the Salamonia River in Portland.

The Underground Railroad is another chapter in local history. The cabin at the Pioneer Home served as a safe haven for countless travelers. A restored pioneer home also commemorates Jimmy and Rachel Silliven as key figures in the Underground Railroad. A 1910 automobile built by Elwood Haynes is on display at the Community Resource Center. Travelers wishing to explore historical subjects in greater depth can include these sites and collections as different focal points in their trip plans.

One milestone in regional history is the East Indiana Natural Gas Boom, which began in Jay County in 1886. The Gas Boom Trail is a driving tour of historic sites around the county, offering another way to explore history along a route.

Landscapes, walking trails, and golf

Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve covers 475 acres of marshland, forest, and prairie. The Bird Sanctuary is smaller, at 38 acres, and was established in 1947. Its trails also pass through forest and prairie, as well as wetlands. The areas’ sizes and the landscapes along their trails offer two points of reference when nature is important to your trip. Hudson Family Park is noted for its lake and walking trails. In summer, Arts-in-the-Park events hosted by Arts Place take place in an amphitheater.

Portland is home to the Hudson Park Trail of Trees, a one-mile walking trail in Hudson Park. For guests looking to include golf in their trip, the Portland Golf Club has an 18-hole course, a driving range, and a putting, chipping, and pitching green. The nature trails, walking trail, and golf facilities offer different activity options, so you don’t have to limit your stay to just one kind of leisure activity.

Plan your stay

When looking for a hotel in Jay County, it helps to first consider what’s bringing you here: if an event is the focus of your stay, the dates of the fair or the Vintage Bike Show will be your priority. For a trip with a stronger focus on cultural history or nature, you can instead use museums, historic buildings, trails, and landscapes to guide your plans. This helps you choose a direction for your trip before comparing specific accommodations.

Discover more destinations: Portland, Ripley, Fountain County, Rush County, Clark, Vigo, Harrison County, Adams County.

Go to the main travel overview: Indiana.