Vacation back again in time at newly restored Hays Household in St. Charles County | Arts and theater
The Hays Household at Matson Hill Park
Stone by stone, Daniel Boone Hays, grandson of pioneer Daniel Boone, created a household atop a hill in what now is Matson Hill Park. The household, constructed involving the 1820s and 1830s, was included to the Nationwide Sign up of Historic Areas in 1973 and has remained closed to the community. Until now.
In December, St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Office opened the Hays Home for self-guided excursions.
“From the beginning, when we started off the work to restore the dwelling, we felt the self-guided tour possibility would be the ideal route,” parks director Ryan Graham says. “The web-site is so lovely, and the residence is so exciting and unique, we desired the park and the residence to converse for itself.”
The parks section acquired the Hays Residence in 2007. It had to be “taken again in time” to undo modifications manufactured by inhabitants in the 1920s or ’30s, guide park interpreter William Ray suggests.
“I would not say we have gutted the house,” Ray claims. “But we certainly produced reverse modifications to get it again to its unique approach from the 1830s. It was a detailed task that took many yrs to do.”
The restoration, funded by a community use tax, was finished in 2018.
The dwelling is nestled on 475 acres in the valley, just two miles from the historic Daniel Boone House. The park has six miles of all-natural mountaineering and biking trails.
