The Samuel P. Hays donation
The preserve was donated to the citizens of Harrison County in 1969 by
Samuel P. Hays, A Corydon native and Professor Emeritus of History at the
University of Pittsburgh. The parks board developed a portion of the land in 1973 for public use, but the majority of the land remains in its original condition to be preserved for the future. Although the entire park is open to the public, the nature reserve area is to always kept free of development to continue Hays' dream of natural preservation of the land. The park property has a history as interesting as its nature. The property was previously owned by
Henry L. Fabrique. In 1820 he constructed a
water mill in the curve of Indian Creek. He later sold the mill to John Peter Mauck, the founder of
Mauckport, whose family operated the mill until the advent of electricity in the 1920s. The same mill was one of many threatened with burning by Confederate General
John Hunt Morgan after the
Battle of Corydon. ==Park area==