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History · Hays

Hays’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Hays. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Hays is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,595 at the 2020 census. North Wilkes High School, one of Wilkes County's four public high schools, is located in Hays.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,851 to 1,595 (-14%). Half of its homes were built before 1991.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hays yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Hays’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hays’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people close to Hays

See all 17 →
Robert ByrdRobert ByrdNorth Wilkesboro · 5 miZach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisNorth Wilkesboro · 5 miMo CowanMo CowanYadkinville · 27 miDickie HemricDickie HemricJonesville · 16 miDRDel ReevesSparta · 18 miDaniel P. DriscollDaniel P. DriscollBoone · 31 mi
By decade

Hays, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Hays is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Hays has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Wilkes Hosiery Mills in North Wilkesboro, 5.8 miles away.

Hays and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Hays. Tap a dot.
Wilkes Hosiery MillsThomas B. Finley HouseSouthern Railway DepotDowntown Main Street Historic DistrictLincoln Heights SchoolBrown-Cowles House and Cowles Law Office

Closest to Hays

Wilkes Hosiery MillsNorth Wilkesboro · Building5.8miThomas B. Finley HouseNorth Wilkesboro · Building6.2miSouthern Railway DepotNorth Wilkesboro · Building6.3miDowntown Main Street Historic DistrictNorth Wilkesboro · Built 18916.3miLincoln Heights SchoolWilkesboro · Built 19246.9mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Wilkes Hosiery Mills’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Hays?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Hays’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 North Wilkesboro📜 Wilkesboro📜 Ronda📜 Elkin
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Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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