"Upriver" toward the Stone Houses is Upper Jay and Keene and the High Peaks trails for ice-hiking and decent food. Upper Jay has a library and a post office and is the site of the Land of Make Believe, a popular attraction in the fifties flooded out by a river that doesn't know its bounds. A sad place, too, because the corner store (was) burnt down a couple of years ago and the space stares at you. Sad, too, because the fish farm restaurant nearby is closed for the time being. The lady who started it up went back to the city for a job and all her hippie friends are gone, too. Dmitri kept it going for years, but he passed away with a bad liver. We all miss the food and fun, the occasional evening spectacles, and we hope someone opens it up soon.

Wilmington and Whiteface Mountain are just over the notch. (Keep going 10 miles for Lake Placid Olympic attractions, restaurants and shops.)

The 'ol swimmin' hole by the falls and covered bridge in Jay is popular with visitors and natives alike. Lots of room to sit and sun on the large flat ledge (rocks) above the falls. And deep swimming holes aplenty. Sliding down the falls is fun for the young at heart. There are huge shade trees along the bank and the old Covered Bridge makes a scenic backdrop. Raspberry in season. Swim upriver in deep water for quite a way. Or meander along the trail on the east bank. (CLICK on Photo for full size image showing summer fun at the Jay swimming hole. plus full text of the New York Times article (August 17, 2001) "Where the Pools Are Never Crowded, And Water Slides Are Nature's Own."

BRIDGE DOWN 1997! The old covered bridge that served residents since 1858 was condemned in the Spring of 1997 by Highway officials and removed in August to a resting place on the East bank of the river. A temporary steel bridge has been erected on the site. Will the old bridge be repaired and replaced? Or will a two-lane modern steel and concrete behemoth take its place by the popular swimming hole by the river falls? Here's The Scoop!

In the village there was a real General Store.
[April '99 Update. SAD, SAD, SAD. The place got torched. Nobody knows how. Maybe someone will open up at the old Hurley Madden store, closed for years.]
[July '99 No such luck! The garage mechanic with the grouchy daughter is just building a new convenience store add-on to the garage down the road a ways. Maybe a new twitch in the long tradition of grouchy Northcountry storekeepers! Will keep you posted on any future developments.]
Cry over this!!
McDonald's General Store. (Now a thing of the past.) The folks may have seemed dour and uninviting, but that was part of the fun. The store cheese (impossible to get elsewhere) was worth the trip. Buy what you need--without the usual preservatives, it keeps well only a few days. Yummy! Formerly McDonald's, they had it for years. Dan was the postmaster and his Mom was before him. The little office was on the side. The rest was groceries. Liberty got it when Dan retired in 1997 and they built the new Post Office on the highway just out of town. Close by the Jay Green it burnt to the ground in '99 and the empty lot just stares at us.

Burdick Chain Saws, or just Burdick's, was on Route 86. The building still stands with some rusty old machines outside. Burdick's had lots more than chain saws. The workshop/salesroom had the oddest collection of small engine lawn machines, snowblowers and the like. It was an important place for locals and visitors alike for saws, mowers, household items, tools, supplies of all kinds and conversation. You'd find them gathered around the cluttered counter or by the friendly wood fire at all hours any day. "We repair what we sell--and just about everything else as well," was Dale's motto and Meredith his Dad's, too, who had the place before him. Lot's of local color and jokes by Dale. "Bring it if it's broke and pick it up in a day or two," he would say. Opened half day Saturday. Joy got a job at AMA. Bernie's gone to work for the Mountain or Ward's, not sure. Say Hi! if you see them.

 More About Jay & The Covered Bridge.
• Come visit our little town on the East Branch of the AuSable.
• Natives and Outsiders at the Covered Bridge.
• Covered Bridge: Old Photos.
• 200th Happy Birthday Party at the Stone House.
• 1829 Stone House: Historic Background, Old Photos.
• Maps of Jay & Essex County: The Heart of the Adirondacks.
• Find Jay on the Essex County Map.
• Find Fourpeaks Backcountry Camps, the Covered Bridge, and the AuSable River swimming spots on the Map of Jay, New York.

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