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The Jay Population Have you ever thought about the population of the past? Jay is a really neat town with a really neat population. It went up, then down, and now up again. Jay was chartered by the esteemed John Jay, and furthermore named Carthage. A few years later, Ira Allen surveyed the same area, now being called Wyllis, finally naming it Jay. A lot of things affected the population in different ways.
Right until1880 the population increased to its pinnacle of 696 people. This was because of all the newly built mills that soon became prosperous. To run so many mills required so many millers. Then came the decline. After 1880, the population decreased, and fast. This was because of many forest fires. These burned many of the town's buildings, and many families were forced to leave. Stores and shops also burned, and so workers left. Most trees were cut and gone, so the loggers left. And lastly, the number of available teachers declined, and so the schools decreased. Now the population is increasing again. This is because of Jay Peak Resort. People come from far and wide to ski in the winter and soon to golf in the summer at the mountain. The new golf course is under construction at this point, but plans to open in 2006. Also, the logging has come back because all of the trees have grown back. This is another of the ups of the population. Fishing is an important attraction to this area. It is popular because it is a popular food. People fished for food and supplies. Fishers hooked so many fish that fishing clubs began to stock the rivers. This is when fish are bred in hatcheries, and then thrown in rivers. They are dumped in the fall, and bred during the rest of the year. Stocking makes all fish populations increase. The population of the town of Jay proved to be very interesting. The population changed for many different reasons. It took all sorts of ups and downs, and will now continue to revolve around Jay Peak. Here is a graph of the population- |
Folks started coming to Jay around 1810. These were loggers, who came to try new land. They soon spread news of good land. This caused more people to come here. Among these were farmers. In a while, 28 people were living in Jay. As time went by, more farms and logging camps were built. This caused the population to grow steadily.