Anyone have any idea why a phone jack would stop working? For a couple of days, there was a lot of static on the line but it worked. To remedy that problem, I tried unplugging and replugging the phone a number of times. Then I got no dial tone at all. I tested the phone at another phone jack in the house and it worked, then tried a different phone in the original jack and couldn't get a dial tone. This was all done using the same phone cord. Do you think just replacing the jack will take care of it, or is there a chance that there is a break in the line somewhere inside the house? Is there a way to check that?
I did remove the cover of the phone jack and tightened screws (which all seemed to be connected OK).
Any advice would be appreciated.

Somewhere between the terminal and the jack the wire is broken. A possibility is you have mice that were gnawing on it. But, in any case the jack needs to be rewired.

Thanks for your quick response. However, I'm confused. If the wire is broken between the terminal and the jack, will it do any good to rewire the jack? Where is the terminal -- where the phone line comes into the house? (We have 3 cats and a dog, so I doubt we have mice.)
A

I would carefully check the connections both in that box, and any others. You may have to go the system interface box, often outside. If you can identify and disconnect the cable feeding that jack, twist the red and green wires together, and the black and yellow. Then check each pair at the other end for conductivity. If the yellow and black are continuos, but not the red and green, you can swap them as long as you are only using a single line. The yellow and black is normally only used for a second line.

By rewiring the jack I meant running a wire from the terminal to the jack. And yes, the terminal is where the line comes into the house.