Everything Jay is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Jay.
30 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
You're driving through Delaware County, and right here is Jay. This town's origin story is wild! See, after statehood, the county seat was way up north in Grove. Folks in the southern half of the county hated that…
You're driving through Delaware County, and right here, the story of its county seat is wilder than any Western! When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Grove was the first county seat. But folks in the center of the…
You're driving through Northeast Oklahoma, deep in Cherokee Country. Right here, you're passing through the territory of Stand Watie, the only full-blood Cherokee principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and the last…
You're driving across the second-longest bridge in Oklahoma, the Sailboat Bridge over Lake O' the Cherokees. Built in 1938 and 1939, this Depression-era marvel was designed to let tall sailboats pass underneath, hence…
You're driving through Pittsburg County, right near the South Canadian River, and you're passing through Indianola. This town started back in 1875, not as a town, but as a general store and a mail drop run by H.M.…
Right here, near the Oklahoma-Missouri border, is the Honey Creek settlement. This is where Cherokee author John Rollin Ridge came after his family was forced from Georgia by the controversial New Echota treaty. Tragedy…
You're driving near Grove, Oklahoma, and right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1863</say-as>, the Cherokee National Council met at Cowskin Prairie. They were a government without a country. Torn by the…
You're driving past Grove, Oklahoma, a town that was once the county seat, but lost that title in a rather dramatic fashion. Grove got its start in 1888 when a post office was approved for a settlement near a spring, in…
The world's largest totem pole at 90 feet. Hand-built folk art in rural Oklahoma.
Commemorating the forced Cherokee removal of 1838. Multiple sites along the 5000-mile route.
You're driving through Colcord, Oklahoma, and right here is a town with a bit of a split personality! It started as a place called Row, but in 1928, a new community popped up a mile south. Residents decided to name this…
You're driving past the town of Disney, Oklahoma, named after a congressman who became known as the "watchdog of the Treasury." Wesley Ernest Disney served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, championing…
You're driving past Disney, right on the east end of Pensacola Dam. This town, and its neighbor Langley, owe their existence to the massive Grand Lake dam project that kicked off in 1935. Disney itself was founded in…
Get ready to see something massive! This dam didn't just create a lake; it was a game-changer for Oklahoma. Back in the 1930s, folks dreamed of controlling the Grand River for power and to prevent floods. So, they built…
You're driving through northeastern Oklahoma, not far from where one of America's greatest baseball legends was born: Mickey Mantle. Born in Spavinaw in 1931, Mantle grew up in Commerce and became known as the 'Commerce…
Right here, in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, you're driving through a town with roots stretching back to 1829. Lewis Rogers, son of Captain John Rogers, set up shop here, building a mill, a distillery, and a salt works along…
You're driving through Ketchum, Oklahoma, and right here is a town with a wild west streak! The First State Bank, founded in 1913, became a target for outlaws. In 1923, bandits robbed the bank and killed cashier Frank…
You're driving through Langley, right on the west end of the Pensacola Dam, the massive structure holding back Grand Lake. This whole project kicked off in 1935 and wrapped up in 1941, costing a whopping 22 million…
You're driving past Grand Lake Towne, a tiny community nestled on the shores of Grand Lake. What's interesting here is how it came to be. After the Pensacola Dam created this huge lake back in 1940, people started…
You're driving past Bernice, a town that literally moved! The original Bernice, founded in 1912, was a bustling railroad and agricultural hub. But in 1940, the Pensacola Dam was completed, creating the Grand Lake O' the…
You're driving through what used to be the territory of the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. This railroad, originally chartered as the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf, started construction back in 1904. Much of its…
You're driving through Kansas, Oklahoma, a town with a name that's a bit of a mystery. Was it named after a traveling salesman from Kansas City? Or did so many folks move here from Kansas that they just decided to call…
This mill served the Old Cherokee Nation for over 125 years, grinding grain for the hill people. Built around 1845, the Hildebrand Mill used Flint Creek to power its overshot wheel. The millrace, a channel carrying…
Right here, near Oaks, was once New Springplace, a Moravian mission established in 1842 for the Cherokee people. But the Civil War brought terror. In 1862, Confederate soldiers and federal troops attacked the mission.…
You're driving through Mayes County, just north of Pensacola, on the old Texas Road. Right here, this spot on Cabin Creek was the site of two major Civil War battles. The first, in July of 1863, saw Union troops under…
Right here, you're driving past Pensacola, a town with roots stretching back to 1840! It started as a simple way station called Cabin Creek Crossing. During the Civil War, Union forces used it as a supply post, and the…
You're driving through Strang, a town that sprang up thanks to the railroad. Back in 1913, surveyors laid out this townsite in anticipation of the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. An official from the railroad named…
Ever wondered what life was like at the very end of a rumbling freight train? This red caboose, Kansas City Southern Railway No. 383, was once the mobile office and home-away-from-home for a train crew, right here in…
Gravette, Arkansas, a town nestled in the Ozark foothills of Benton County, has seen a noticeable shift in its demographics and development in recent years. While it has long maintained its small-town charm, that has…
Ever wondered what it was like to ride the rails back in the day? Here in Decatur, you’re about to explore a piece of that powerful history, seeing up close the machines that connected communities and moved a nation!…