 Maeystown...
Step back in time as you enter
this picturesque 19th century German village tucked
neatly into the surrounding landscape.
Maeystown...
where three streams descend the bluff, was founded by
Jacob Maeys in 1852. The original settlers were
German immigrants predominately from the former Bavarian Rheinpfalz. The village is unique in manner with
structures integrated into the landscape. The
original stone church, built in 1865-67, held services
intermittently in German until 1943. Sixty
significant buildings still exist, including Maeys' log
house, the original church, the stone bridge entry into
town, Zeitinger's Mill, and various outbuildings, barns,
and smokehouses made of limestone, brick, and wood.
These buildings, built in the mid to late 1800's, form
this quaint little village.
...Because of its outbuildings, stone walls,
flagstone gutters, structures built into the landscape,
and common nationality, MAEYSTOWN, in its entirety, was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1978 -- one of only a few villages in the State of
Illinois to be so honored.
Maeystown is truly one of the hidden treasures of the
Midwest. In its description of Maeystown, the St.
Louis Riverfront Times stated, "the most impressive work
of art is the village itself, a warren of narrow lanes
and nineteenth-century storefronts surrounded by green
hills. Visitors approach the pocket-size town on
an arched stone bridge so weathered you'll expect to
find trolls living underneath it. Maeystown's
natural and man-made vistas go beyond mere 'quaint' or
'picturesque' into the realm of the truly beautiful."
Although Maeystown's population continues to be
small, people from throughout the St. Louis metropolitan
area support Maeystown's many activities. These
events include: FASTNACHT, German pancake and
sausage dinner (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday);
FRUEHLINGSFEST, antique and garden show (first Sunday
in May); MAEYSTOWN HOMECOMING (Friday and Saturday
before Memorial Day); OKTOBERFEST, arts, crafts, and
antique fair (second Sunday in October); OLD-FASHIONED GERMAN
CHRISTMAS (first Sunday in December).
For more Maeystown information, please open the
associated links on this Home Page. |
