Nov 15, 2002 By Cindy Ekas-Brown 5 min read

LAUGHLINTOWN – Lisa Hays has comforting childhood memories of lying on a living room sofa curled up underneath a warm cozy blanket. She recalls her heavy eyelids gently beginning to close as she watched the glowing red flames flickering in a stone fireplace at the historic Compass Inn. Hays, who was only 3 or 4 years old at the time and suffering from an illness, remembers peacefully drifting off to sleep while the rest of her family gathered for Thanksgiving dinner at the home, which was owned by her grandmother, the late Virginia Swank, during the late 1950s.

“That is the first memory that I have of my grandma’s warm home that felt so comforting to me as a child,” Hays said during a recent interview. “I can still recall the warm feeling that came over me that day. I remember that I didn’t feel well enough to join my family at the dining room table for Thanksgiving dinner so my grandmother laid me down on the living room sofa to take a nap.”

Hays draws on her personal connection to the home and her childhood memories every day as she performs her job responsibilities as executive director of the Ligonier Valley Historical Society, the group that now owns and operates the Compass Inn Museum in Westmoreland County. The inn, an authentically restored 1799 stagecoach stop, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

As part of her job, Hays dresses in period clothing as she leads visitors on guided tours of the inn, which features three sections built during different time periods. During those tours, Hays talks about her family’s connection to the inn, tells stories about early transportation and the museum’s history and points out the building’s unique features and historic artifacts.

“We use the artifacts to tell the story about transportation and every day life in the early 1800s,” Hays said. “This was a family home, as well as a hotel, and it does lend itself to many personal stories that people love to hear during the tours.”

Hays, a 46-year-old woman who now lives next door to the inn, is also responsible for overseeing the grounds when the museum is closed to the public.

“My grandmother would be thrilled to see the inn today,” Hays said. “My grandmother’s dream was to see this house become a museum someday. But that was an expensive dream for someone who had limited resources. The historical society made my grandmother’s dream a reality. But unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to see it happen.”

Hays is certified to teach biology, but she started volunteering at the Compass Inn Museum in 1989 because of her close family ties to the historic site. Eventually, she was hired as executive director of the Ligonier Valley Historical Society.

“Life is funny because I’m a certified teacher,” she said. “Even though it happened in a round-about means, my educational background has helped me in my current position. I’m trained to be a teacher, and we do have a lot of school tours at the museum.

“Now, I’m just teaching history instead of science,” she added. “I can look like a teacher and sound like a teacher when I need to do it. It’s amazing how quickly the education comes back to you.”

Hays explained that the historic building has three sections. Phillip Freeman built the original log house in 1799. In 1820, a stone section was added onto the inn to accommodate stagecoach travelers after the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Turnpike was completed three years earlier. A third addition to the inn was constructed in 1862.

“The Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Turnpike ran right through Laughlintown, exactly where Route 30 runs today,” Hays said. “The museum is located right along Route 30, about three miles east of Ligonier. The inn was located along a major shipping route through Pennsylvania at that time. It was a very heavily traveled road, and many stagecoach travelers stopped at the inn because of its convenient location.”

Although Freeman built the original log house in 1799, Hays said Robert and Rachel Armor, her ancestors, operated the inn for many years.

“I’m the seventh generation from Robert and Rachel Armor,” Hays said. “My grandmother (Virginia Swank) was the last Armor descendant to own the Compass Inn. There was an oral tradition about the inn that was passed down from generation to generation. I can remember my grandmother telling me stories about the inn before she died in 1966 when I was only 10 years old.”

Hays said it wasn’t difficult for the Ligonier Valley Historical Society to confirm that the oral family stories about the inn were historically accurate. Charles Armor, grandson of Robert and Rachel Armor and Virginia Swank’s uncle, had saved many documents that helped the historical society to confirm the oral historic information.

“My grandmother’s uncle collected all kinds of information during his lifetime,” Hays said. “My family is still reading letters that Charlie Armor saved. A lot of our paper records can be traced back to Charlie Armor. But unfortunately, I never met Charlie because he died in the 1930s, which was long before I came along,” she added.

Hays said her mother, sister and other family members are also very involved in the museum’s operation because of her family’s connection to the inn. The historical society first opened the museum to tours about 30 years ago.

“My family is very supportive and appreciative of the historical society for the fine work that they do,” she said. “We think it’s just wonderful that this historic stagecoach stop has been restored for the public to enjoy. This would make my grandmother very proud.”