There are always fascinating places to explore in Indiana. One such area is Portland and Jay County, which boasts a plethora of interesting cultural establishments, which are described below. Other points of interest include the arched bridge leading you into the city from the south, the only concrete bowstring-truss bridge in the state, and the Jay County Fairgrounds, dating back to 1891.

In nearby Bryant, you will find Bear Creek Farms and Loblolly Marsh Wetland Preserve. In Pennville, you can see the Underground Railroad Marker, which is linked to the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Blankenbaker’s Corner Store, an old-time soda fountain. Historic Redkey is home to Yesteryear’s Inn, an establishment from the 1800s, and the Key Palace Theatre where B.B. King’s daughter, Shirley, performed. Dunkirk is famous for the glass factories and the Glass Museum as well as antique shops of its own.

Portland will be host for the Jay County Gospel Fest featuring CrossRoads Quartet, The Eternals, The Shelburnes and Tab Beechler on September 20. For more information, contact the Jay County Visitors & Tourism Bureau in Portland, Indiana. Call 260-726-3366 or toll free at 1-877-726-4481 or visit the web at www.visitjaycounty.com or email the bureau at jcvcb@jayco.net.

Jim Waechter and Brian Williamson had a dream and that dream is a reality in Portland. The Museum of the Soldier began as a mobile museum with just a few uniforms to display. Now this old Coca Cola plant is full soldier-related memorabilia. Many of the displays are about Jay County past and present residents and residents from many surrounding areas in Indiana.

The mission of the museum is "to recognize and honor the service and sacrifice of those who served and supported the Armed Forces of the United States." The main focus of the museum is on the individuals: who they were, what they did and other interesting information about their military lives.

One example is a man named Art Hall, a tour guide of sorts at the museum. Hall has display his Navy jacket and a photo of the USS Nicholson, on which he was stationed for three and a half years. The museum is located at 510 Arch Street, Portland. The museum is open the first and third weekends of each month April to November. For more information call (260) 726-2967.

One of the most amazing points of interest at Arts Place (formerly Jay County Arts Council, Inc.) is Landscape’s Legacy. This display, which covers the majority of one wall in Goodrich Hall of Arts Place, was a three-year project by Rhonda Franklin and her students in Arts in the Parks summer program at Arts Place in the year 2000. The seven- by 35-foot stoneware mural represents agriculture, industry, swamps and native plants of the area. The border tile around the top and bottom were inspired by a plate found in Dunkirk’s Glass Museum.

The students involved learned about photography with pinhole cameras, and then the mural was drawn to scale with these photographs as their guide to sculpt each tile. The tiles were bisque fired, sprayed and hand-painted with glaze. It was then reduction fired before finally being installed piece by piece onto the wall of Goodrich Hall in Arts Place. This is truly an astonishing piece or art, one you will want to be sure to see.

Another step back in time can be found at the Jay County Historical Museum. This museum holds thousands of artifacts from Jay County communities of the past, many of which are now ghost towns. A sampling of what you may find includes an authentic Conestoga Wagon, Indian artifacts, Civil War relics, documents signed by Abraham Lincoln, mementos of world wars, a horse-drawn mail wagon, antique farm machinery, county school memorabilia, business and industry displays, and a reference library, plus much more of Jay County history. To find out more call 260-726-7168 or email jaycohist@jayco.net.