26
Oct
2024

Boo Bash at the John Hay Center

10-26-2024 5:00 pm -6:30 pm

The Boo Bash will be held on October 26th from 5-6:30PM. Come in costume and treat or treat through the John Hay Center!

09
Nov
2024

Annual Membership Meeting

11-09-2024 6:00 pm

WCHS Annual Meeting of the Membership will be held on November 9th at 6:00PM.

Come by, have dinner, explore the accomplishments of the society in 2024 as well as our plans for 2025, and elect new board members!

07
Dec
2024

Jim Smoak and the Honeydrippers Concert

12-07-2024 1:00 pm

Join us for a concert by Jim Smoak and the Honeydrippers Concert on December 7th from 1:00 - 3:00PM

Hear  bluegrass legend Jim Smoak and his band play at The Depot Railroad Museum. Attendance is free but donations are accepted.

13
Dec
2024

Annual Showing of The Polar Express

12-13-2024 7:00 pm

Can you hear the sleigh bells? Visit The Depot to find out with our annual showing of The Polar Express. There will be free popcorn, cookies, and treats.

Attendance is free but donations are accepted! Show begins at 7:00pm

 

Photo of John Milton HayWho was John Hay?

Statesman, Author, Ambassador

John Hay was a great American statesman, diplomat, author and poet, whose political career spanned over 50 years.  He was born in a small brick home in Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838.

After John displayed considerable potential in his schooling, his Uncle Milton Hay, who was a practicing lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, took a special interest and sent him to Brown University, where he graduated in 1858. 

In 1860, when John Hay’s childhood friend, John Nicolay, was appointed Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign secretary, he was brought on board to assist with the enormous amount of correspondence. 

Hay grew to adore President Lincoln for his goodness, patience, understanding, sense of humor, humility, magnanimity, healthy skepticism, sense of justice, resilience and power, love of the common man and mystical patriotism. Many later noted that Lincoln too, loved Hay as a son and was very attached to him.

In 1903, after years of negotiating treaties, Hay successfully passed legislation that afforded the United States the opportunity to start construction on the Panama Canal. 

Brown University’s John Hay Library was named in his honor, as was the John Hay Air Base, in the Philippines and both his birth home, in Salem, Indiana and his summer estate, The Fells, in New Hampshire, have been historically conserved. 

John Hay Center Hours of Operation

Thursdays - 10:00am – 5:00pm
Fridays - 10:00am – 5:00pm
Saturdays - 10:00am – 5:00pm

Tour Pricing

Self-Guided Tours

Adult (Age 18+) - Donation
Child (Age 6-17) - Donation

Guided Tours

Complete Comprehensive Tour
(Museum,Pioneer Village, The Depot)
Adult (Age 18+) - Tour Price  $20.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - Tour Price $10.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

Steven's Museum Guided Tour
(Approximate 2 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) -  Tour Price $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - Tour Price $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

Pioneer Village
(Approximate 1 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) - Tour Price $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

The Depot Railroad Museum
(Approximate 1 hour Tour)
Adult (Age 18+) - $7.00
Child (Ages 6-17) - $4.00
Guided Tours - Free to Members

School Tours

Private & Public School Tours: $3.00 per student/parent (Teachers free & 10 student minimum)

Private Tours

Scheduled Private Tours (More than 5 Guests) (Minimum $50)

Additional Information

*All regular tours are free for Life Members
*Children under 5 are free

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