The Story of Kerrville’s Louise Hays Park

April 26, 1950: the date Kerrville built Louise Hays Park in a single day.
Click on any image to enlarge.

On Saturday, April 26, Kerrville’s Louise Hays Park turns 75 years old.

On that date in 1950, our community came together to build a park in a single day. 

Louise, Bobby, and
Robert Hays

The Hays family, Robert and Louise, gave the city the land for the park. The tract is now surrounded by Kerrville, but in 1950 there was very little development south of the river. The land for the park was part of the Hays' ranch. State Highway 16 crossed the river, as it does now, traveling through the Hays property. There was a road to the state hospital connected to the highway, today's Thompson Drive. Aerial photographs of the site show plowed fields above the floodplain; near the river, a jumble of trees and brush. 

As far as ranch land goes, the 35-acre site was not optimal, since it was in the floodplain. But as the site for a municipal park, the tract was brilliant. Each year, as Kerrville grew in population and area, having a park in the center of town with river frontage grew more and more ideal.

I've often wondered what motivated Kerrville citizens in 1950 to attempt to build a park in a single day. I thought it was perhaps a clever tactic by the Hays family; then, as now, our community takes forever to finish a project, always finding the time to squabble about each decision made along the way.

Before

However, the truth is probably closer to a 1950 quote from Camilla Salter, as reported in the Dallas Morning News: "We didn’t have enough money in town to build the kind of park we wanted, but we decided we could if we could get everybody to donate one day’s work – get everyone to give one day’s time." 

Mrs. Salter was the owner and publisher of the Kerrville Mountain Sun, and very dedicated to any project advancing Kerrville. "From the day that Mr. and Mrs. Hays announced their gift,” the story reported, “she has plugged hard day in and day out for the realization of the park project.” Building the park in a single day may have been her clever idea.

Celebration photo

Jack Peterson served as chairman of the “Build a Park in a Day” committee, and led a capable group which made the dream of a park into a reality.

“Some 600 men, using machines in a race against time,” the Dallas Morning News reported on April 23, 1950, “will attempt to turn thirty-five timbered acres into a finished playground park between dawn and dusk.

“An Army of men, manning more than 100 trucks, tractors, bulldozers and rollers, will rumble into the river-bank acreage at 7 a.m.

“Twelve hours later Louise Hays Park should be finished, even to its name cut into the native stone entrance archway.”

Tulahteka, 2018

The date for work to begin (and be finished) was April 26, 1950, which happened to be the 94th anniversary of the founding of Kerr County. Well, near the anniversary, actually.

The volunteers made the ‘park in a day’ happen. The Houston Chronicle called the completed park the “Miracle on the Guadalupe,” in an April 27, 1950 story:

“A thousand men have made a gift grow into a lovely park in a day…. The gift was a tract of 35 acres along the river from Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hays. Their only stipulation was that the city beautify and make it a public park and that it be named the Louise Hays Park in honor of the wife of the donor.”

While doing research for this column, I learned some new things about the Hays family:

April 26, 1950 -- the big day

Robert Simpson Hays Sr. was a veteran of both World War I and World War II; he attained the rank of Major in the U.S. Army in the engineering corps during his service in the second world war. Robert Hays was born in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. At the age of 14, he left school to work in the oil fields, starting out with a pumping crew, and made a tool dresser by the age of 15. He held various positions in the oil field, and later entered the oil business as a producer. He had his first big success in the Snyder Field in Scurry County, and other successes elsewhere. He and his wife, Louise, moved to Kerrville in 1949, buying one of Louis Schreiner’s homes, Tulahteka, from John L. Sullivan. The couple considered the mansion their ‘ranch house,’ and they raised cattle and fine horses on the other parts of the ranchlands surrounding the house. 

Louise Hays was described as delightful, “for she is genuine, she is charming, and she is smart,” in an article written in March, 1950, by Camilla Salter. “She likes a farm,” Mrs. Salter wrote, “and loves a small town, and likes animals of all kinds. She enjoys fishing, and when we first saw her, she was indulging in this sport with an old-fashioned pole and line in one of the lakes on the ranch. We were immediately impressed with her friendliness, with her youth, and her hospitality….”

Robert and Louise Hays had one son, Robert Hays Jr. I understand Robert Jr. will attend the 75th anniversary celebrations of the park with his family this Saturday.

Robert Hays had two daughters from a previous marriage, Sara Jean Hays, and Ada Sue Hays Blume. Sue Blume was a local realtor here in Kerrville for many years. Both daughters have passed away.

Robert Hays died four years after the park was completed, dying in his sleep at his Kerrville ‘ranch house.’ He was only 55 years old when he died. He is buried in Arkansas.

Louise Hays later remarried. She died in 1982, at the age of 64, and is buried next to her second husband in Illinois.

This couple changed the course of Kerrville’s history with their generous gift.

My entire life I've enjoyed time spent at Louise Hays Park, as have my children. I'm so grateful for the gift to our community from the Hays family, and I'm thankful for the clever leadership of local folks like Camilla Salter and Jack Peterson.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who needs to spend more time in the sunshine. This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead April 24, 2025. 

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is free, but not cheap to send. To show your support, forward it to someone who’d like it, or buy one of my books.  Thanks so much. (And thanks to all of you who bought books this week!)

Never miss a story from Joe. Join today for FREE.