The Tri-States Monument, marking the tripoint between New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, lies at the southwestern corner of the city.

Port Jervis was part of early industrial history, a point for shipping coal to major markets to the southeast by canal and later by railroads.

[2] In the 21st century, from late spring to early fall, many thousands of travelers and tourists pass through Port Jervis on their way to enjoying rafting, kayaking, canoeing and other activities in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and the surrounding area.

In August 2008, Port Jervis was named one of "Ten Coolest Small Towns" by Budget Travel magazine.

[3] The first fully developed European settlement in the area was established by Dutch and English colonists c.1690, and a land grant of 1,200 acres (490 ha) was formalized on October 14, 1697.

The line was completed in 1851, and the first passenger train – with President Millard Fillmore and former United States Senator Daniel Webster on board – came through the city on May 14.

[5] Like the D&H Canal, the railroads brought new prosperity to Port Jervis in the form of increased trade and investment in the community from the outside.

However, the competition by the railroad, which could deliver products faster, hastened the decline of the canal, which ceased operation in 1898.

[6] A shift in transportation accelerated after World War II with the federal subsidy of the Interstate Highway System and increased competition from trucking companies.

One of the first Class I railroads to shut down was the O&W, on March 29, 1957, leaving Port Jervis totally reliant on the Erie.

On June 2, 1892, Robert Lewis, an African American, was lynched, hanged on Main Street in Port Jervis by a mob after being accused of participation in an assault on a white woman.

[10] In the mid-1920s some residents in the area formed a Ku Klux Klan chapter, in the period of the KKK's early 20th-century revival.

[11] The city's location at the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink rivers has made it subject to occasional flooding.

This incident was studied and a 1958 report issued by the National Research Council: "The Effects of a Threatening Rumor on a Disaster-Stricken Community".

[6] In 1981 a large ice floe resulted in the highest water crest measured to date at the National Weather Service's Matamoras river gauge 26.6 feet (8.1 m).

Port Jervis has a Humid Continental Climate (Köppen Dfb) with relatively hot summers and cold winters.

It receives approximately 47.18 inches (1,198 mm) of precipitation per year, most of which occurs in the late spring in early summer.

Port Jervis is the last stop on the 95-mile-long (153 km) Port Jervis Line, which is a commuter railroad service from Hoboken, New Jersey and New York City (via a Secaucus Transfer) that is contracted to NJ Transit by the Metro-North Railroad of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The track itself continues on to Binghamton and Buffalo, but passenger service west of Port Jervis was discontinued in November 1966.

Port Jervis is a part of New York's 18th congressional district, represented by Democrat Pat Ryan.

Elks-Brox Park, which includes Skyline Drive, the Elks-Brox Campground and the overlook at Point Peter, backs up to the much larger Port Jervis Watershed Park and Recreation Area, which together include more than sixty miles of hiking and biking trails.

The smaller Farnum Park at the end of Ulster Place is also home to a summer concert series and a playground and a basketball court.

The Youth Community Center on Pike Street provides after-school activities throughout the year, as well as summer programming.

[clarification needed] The station also can receive WSPK-FM K104.7 and WRRV on 92.7. Notable current and former residents of Port Jervis include: Lapio, Italy[37]