Jay, a town in Franklin County, incorporated on February 26, 1795 from the former Phipps' Canada Plantation and was named for the nation's first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay.
Long a paper mill town on the Androscoggin River, Jay was the scene of a long and bitter strike of workers against the International Paper mill there.
The white granite for President Ulysses S. Grant's tomb came from North Jay, whose quarries supplied granite for public buildings in major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, and San Francisco. The century-old Cutler Memorial Library in Farmington was constructed from North Jay granite.
Fifteen miles south of Farmington on combined Maine Routes 4 and 17, the town is also served by Routes 133 and 140.
