Editing Jay, Maine (section)

==History==
This was once territory of the Anasagunticook (or [[Androscoggin (tribe)|Androscoggin]]) [[Abenaki]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]], whose main village was Rockameko, located on Canton Point. They were decimated by [[smallpox]] in 1757. The township was then granted by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to Captain Joseph Phipps and 63 others for their services in the [[French and Indian War]]. Called Phipps-Canada, the plantation was not settled until after the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. On February 26, 1795, Phipps-Canada was incorporated as Jay for [[John Jay]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA168 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=168}}</ref> the first [[Chief Justice of the United States|chief justice]] of the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]].

Originally in [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland County]], Jay became part of the formation of [[Oxford County, Maine|Oxford County]] on March 4, 1805 (affirmed part of Oxford County in 1808), then of Franklin County on May 9, 1838.<ref>[https://www.mainegenealogy.net/place_record.asp?place=jay Maine Genealogy: Jay, Franklin County]. Accessed February 20, 2023.</ref> In 1821, [[Canton, Maine|Canton]] was set off from Jay and incorporated as a town.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield  | title = A History and Description of New England| year = 1859| location = Boston | pages = 164–165| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&q=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA164}}</ref>

[[Farmer]]s found the soil to be loamy and productive, yielding great quantities of [[hay]], [[Maize|corn]], [[wheat]], [[potato]]es, [[oat]]s and [[apple]]s. In 1793, a tavern was constructed at Jay Hill. On the [[Androscoggin River]] near Jay Hill was erected a [[toll bridge]], then in 1839 a  [[sawmill]]. At North Jay was built a sawmill, [[brickmaking|brickyard]] and [[granite]] [[quarry]]. White granite from the North Jay Granite Company, established in 1884, would be used to construct numerous important buildings throughout the country, including [[Grant's Tomb]]. East Jay had a sawmill, and Bean's Corner a [[carriage]] factory. In 1857, the [[Maine Central Railroad]] reached town.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Varney
  | first = George J.
  | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Jay
  | place = Boston
  | publisher = Russell
  | year = 1886
  | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/jay-me.htm }}
</ref>

Jay had a population of 1,490 in 1870. The following years would see [[papermaking]] develop into the town's predominant industry. In 1888, industrialist [[Hugh J. Chisholm]] built at southern Jay the Otis Falls Pulp & Paper Company mill, then the third largest [[paper mill]] in the country. Nearby developed the [[mill town]] village of Chisholm. In 1898, it became one of the founding mills of [[International Paper]].<ref>[http://abacus.bates.edu/acad/depts/environ/projects/AndroscogginTimeline.html Androscoggin Timeline]</ref> In 1905, International Paper built a mill on the opposite side of the river, which became known as the Otis mill.  The mill was known as James River through the 1980s.  In 1998, this mill was sold to Wausau Paper from a group of investors. In 1965, International Paper opened the [[Androscoggin Mill]]. It is an integrated [[paper pulp|pulp]] and finished paper goods plant, employing 990 people operating five paper machines. In 1987-88, it was site of a [[1987–1988 International Paper strike|major strike]] by members of the [[United Paperworkers' International Union]] against International Paper, which ultimately led to management hiring strikebreakers to permanently replace the strikers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kellman |first1=Peter |title=Pain on Their Faces: Testimonies on the Paper Mill Strike, Jay, Maine, 1987-1988 |date=1998 |publisher=Apex Press |isbn=978-0-945257-96-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PsEAAAACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> In March 2009, [[Wausau Paper]] announced the closing of the Otis mill.  Operations there stopped permanently at the end of May 2009.<ref>[http://www.pulpandpaper.org/history_of_papermaking.shtml Maine Pulp & Paper: A Brief History of Papermaking in Maine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509221700/http://www.pulpandpaper.org/history_of_papermaking.shtml |date=May 9, 2008 }}</ref>

In 2020, an explosion occurred at the Androscoggin Mill.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/04/15/explosion-reported-at-paper-mill-in-jay/?rel=related&_ga=2.73731153.210291181.1587088007-1048388822.1587088007
|title=Androscoggin Mill explosion in Jay causes no serious injuries|date=April 16, 2020 |first1=Mark|last1=Laflamme|work=[[Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)|Sun Journal]]}}</ref>