James "Jay" Thomas Nowling submitted the name "Pine Level" but it was declined due to another Florida post office already using that same name. Jay is the birthplace of Jackie Moore, baseball player and coach.
Jay, Florida gifts and souvenirs: 18 designs made from Jay's own map, landmarks and history, from $16 to $95. Printed to order and shipped free in the USA.
| Popular | Price |
|---|---|
| Jay Hometown Ornament | $23 |
| Jay Varsity Crewneck | from $57 |
| Jay Est. Tee | from $33 |
| Jay Town Line Mug | from $26 |
| Jay Market Tote | $37 |
Ceramic keepsake, gold ribbon, in 3 styles
The town's story in dates, from its own records, for home or classroom
Map of local landmarks, washable fabric
Heavy-blend fleece, street map printed on the back
Red heavy-blend crewneck, knit-stitch town print
Soft Bella+Canvas jersey
Kids' Bella+Canvas jersey, youth sizes
Bella+Canvas toddler jersey
Bella+Canvas baby bodysuit
Glossy ceramic, dishwasher safe
Weatherproof, for the front walk
24″×16″, printed coir-look fibers, rubber back
12″×12″ printed wood, ready to hang
Soft-touch, zip cover
Sturdy all-over-print tote
Glossy top, cork back
Soft fleece, 50″×60″
20 oz, double-wall stainless
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.
The Jernigan family were among some of the earliest pioneers in the "Pine Level" area of Santa Rosa County. Among them were such settlers as Van Jernigan, who arrived when Florida was still a territory. His homestead near the headbank at the southern bend of Cobb Creek was located on the eastern side of Milton-Pollard Road. As with many residents of the area, Jernigan's occupation was in the timber and logging industry. He also owned one of the area's largest range cattle herds, descendants of which continued to roam on the open range even many years after his death. Jerningan's estate sold them sometime in the 1890s.
Eldridge Jernigan was another member of the Jernigan family who was an early settler in the area. He later moved to the nearby community of Mount Carmel.
In 1902, a committee was formed to select a name for the thriving farming community. James "Jay" Thomas Nowling submitted the name "Pine Level" but it was declined due to another Florida post office already using that same name. Nowling was asked to submit a second name and was turned down again due to the name being too long. He was asked to submit yet another name but the United States Postal Service decided to name the new post office after his nickname ("Jay") before he was able to submit another name, and then Nowling became the first postmaster for the community that now had his namesake.
In 1922, at least 175 African-American residents of Jay left in a mass exodus after a fight between a black and a white farmer, leaving a legacy of Jay being known as a sundown town. In a 1974 Tampa Bay Times article, the then-mayor of Jay, J.D. Bray said: "The sun doesn't set on a colored man in Jay, ... Come 4 o'clock, they're gone. They were run out of here back in the days of the turpentine still. And they know better than to come in here." According to the US Census in 2010 and in 2020, the town still had only four African-American residents, but that was up from just two Black citizens on the 2000 US Census.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Jay, Florida, revision 1374182694 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
We share a part of every Jay sale with local partners, and we'd love to print from your collection. Old photographs, maps and postcards make the best keepsakes.
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Jay's population was 524 in the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 533 in 2010.