Texas State Parks History and Archeology

Available now at the gift shop at Goliad State Park and Historic Site. Special Thanks to Dr. Thomas H. Kreneck.

Davenport-Merrick House at Hill Country SNA, 1925 vs. 2015

Changes over time can be seen in how the 2nd story porch was enclosed, rock arches were created on the 1st floor porch area, and trees have come and gone. The Bar-O Ranch house was built in 1892 by the Judge James Booker Davenport family, and the last owner was Louise Lindsey Merrick who cared for the property for twenty years before she donated the land to the state. She stipulated that it must “be kept far removed and untouched by modern civilization, where everything is preserved intact, yet put to a useful purpose.” The 5,000 plus acre Hill Country State Natural Area opened in 1984 and is located southwest of Bandera, Texas.

Historic photo courtesy of the Mulcahy family and color photo by John Chandler.

Meridian State Park, Independence Day Celebration - 87 years ago!

So, the dancing began right after midnight as the 4th of July turned into the 5th, and then lasted until daylight. I wonder what music was played. Just might have to look this up to see if there is a follow up story in the local newspapers. Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

If these boots could talk. . .

Doeppenschmidt-Weidner farmstead, Honey Creek SNA. Read more about the history of these families and their settlement endeavors at the Friends of the Guadalupe River State Park and Honey Creek SNA website at https://friendsofgrhc.org/doeppenschmidt-weidner-ranch-the-early-settlers-and-their-families/ -- There is an abundance of history in all of our parks.

Did you grow up calling these Paddleboats, or pedalboats?

Whatever you call them, I think we can all agree that they're a delight, and have been a traditional way to explore many of the lakes at Texas State Parks for generations.

Paddle boats are still available to rent at several parks, including Bonham, Daingerfield, Garner, and Inks Lake, where this photo was taken circa 1970.

Happy first day of Summer! As we enter the sweltering heat of a summer in Texas, let's take a moment to think on the CCC enrollees who worked by hand in all kinds of weather to build many of the state parks people have been enjoying for so many years.

Here's a group of them pausing in their construction work to pose for a photo at Bastrop State Park around 1934.

Flooding on the Concho River, August 9, 1894.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the dam and created the San Angelo Lake in 1952. The dam was built to control flooding on the North Concho River and function as a municipal water supply. The Lake was renamed the O. C. Fisher Reservoir in 1975 for Ovie Clark Fisher (1903-1994) who represented the 21st District in U.S. Congress for 32 years. The 7,063-acre San Angelo State Park in Tom Green County opened on May 1, 1995.

On the left, Eleanor Roosevelt examines a table in the recently CCC-built Custodian's Cottage in 1940 at Goliad State Park.

On the right, that same table sitting in the same place in the Custodian's Cottage, which in 2018 opened anew to visitors as the El Camino Real de los Tejas Visitors Center.

Had to share this Creed for the CCC from the June 12, 1937 issue of Happy Days, eighty-seven (87) years ago this month! Happy Days was the national publication of the CCC. ❤

Jump into summer by visiting one of the many swimming pools built by New Deal programs in Texas to cool off!

The CCC pools are definitely a thoroughly enjoyable part of the historic fabric of many of our state parks, as this gentleman diving into the Abilene State Park pool in August of 1968 can attest.

Make plans to visit one of our CCC parks this coming weekend. Between Mexia and Groesbeck on Highway 14 in Limestone County for Ft. Parker State Park's Lakeside Legacy Celebration! Look for our Cultural Resources table of CCC activities.

Texas Parks and Wildlife acquired the Franklin Mountains property in 1981 and opened it in 1987. This park is one of the largest urban wilderness parks in the world, with over 25,000 acres to explore, covering about 40 square miles, all within the city limits of El Paso. Photo by Chase Fountain. https://youtu.be/09d5DAupKIg?si=He388uhyRbLOdN2c

It's graduation season in Texas! Congratulations to all the graduates who have worked hard to finish your classes. Take a nice trip to a beautiful place to celebrate!

Here's some of the graduating class of Austin High School (Class of 1912) enjoying themselves by having a lovely day out at what is now McKinney Falls State Park.

The Rice House at Mission Tejas State Park is a "dove-tailed" timber construction (because of the way the corners come together look like a dove's tail), with its first section built in 1828 and the dogtrot and additional rooms added later. Joseph and wife Willie Rice lived in this house with their large family and many early settlers referred to it as the old stagecoach inn as it also served as a waystation for travelers.

The house was passed down to their grandson John Rice and wife Nancy who donated it to the Mission Tejas State Park in 1973. The Rice home has been at the park for fifty years now and is a treasured log cabin in our Texas history, and a wonderful reflection of early log home craftsmanship. Photos by John Carpenter.

Celebrate Historic Preservation Month with a visit to Garner State Park, eight miles north of Concan. The hand hammered hinges made in the blacksmith shop and the door details on the combination building should be admired in person. CCC company 879 worked on elements to create a park from 1935 to 1941 utilizing native limestone and bald cypress on the combo building and created furniture for the buildings from cedar, cypress, oak, and ash. The park lies on 2.9 miles of the Frio River winding through 1,774 acres of park land today. Photos by John Chandler.

The historic buildings at Fort Richardson are a great example of preserving our past for current and future generations. Established as an Army fort in 1867, it was the northern-most frontier fort in Texas. This National Historic Landmark was acquired by Texas Parks in 1968 and has expanded to over 450 acres. The details of the roof construction of the veranda around the Post Hospital, and the brick work in the ceiling of the 4-foot-thick-walled Magazine building show the craftsmanship of builders from over 150 years ago. Photos by John Chandler.

Wrought iron lamps made by the Civilian Conservation Corps for buildings at Lake Brownwood State Park.

May is National Historic Preservation Month. Created by the National Trust in 1973 to celebrate our heritage through historic built places. This year’s theme is People Saving Places. Texas Parks and Wildlife along with many of our Friends groups assist in preserving numerous historic structures for present and future generations to enjoy at dozens of our Texas State Parks. We have the men of companies 872 and 849 to thank for such fine craftmanship of the stone buildings as well as their light fixtures. They worked on creating the park from 1934-1942. Photos by John Chandler.

History isn't just something that happened in the past. It's being created around us, all the time. When events happen that will clearly have a role in shaping the history of parks, we collect objects that help tell the story of what happened.

Why a charred sign? The importance of collecting the sign comes from the story you can tell with it, the history it helps you share. Of the 2011 Bastrop Complex Fire. Of the loss of lives, homes, and habitat, of the bravery of firefighters, and of the perseverance of the community.

In a similar vein, we've collected other items artifacts with recent histories, such as a face mask our State Parks Director used in the recent pandemic and promotional items from the 2023 State Parks Centennial celebration.

Curtis Herring/J. W. Nichols Ranch house, circa 1970s.

The Choke Canyon Reservoir was completed in Live Oak and McMullen counties in South Texas in 1982. It was built as a partnership by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Nueces River Authority and the City of Corpus Christi. Texas Parks and Wildlife entered into a cooperative agreement for two separate park units and a wildlife management area in 1983. This house was at one time close to the Calliham Unit of the Choke Canyon State Park and more than likely built by Curtis Herring who lived there with his family and raised livestock on this section of the property from 1858-1893. In 1899, J. W. Nichols purchased the land but his home base was in Kenedy and it was known thereafter as the Nichols Ranch House. It was constructed close to the Frio River and built up on a stone foundation to accommodate the occasional flood, and had a stone chimney with board and batten wood walls. This photo was taken in the 1970s when the house had been unoccupied for a couple of decades and the porch and supports by that time had probably been washed away. Imagine the rough early settler life on the Frio River over 150 years ago for the Herring family and the eleven (11) children born there…….and the adventures of living so close to the river.

https://youtu.be/GjgJIJ7vGv8?si=-UFlPmeBoyezAPy9

A Woman's Vision: Trailblazing Conservation-The Story Behind Government Canyon with Kyle Cunningham In 1980, during her initial visit to Government Canyon, she was struck by its extraordinary allure and recognized its significance as a site deserving preser...

The Devil's Sinkhole in 1947 near Rock Springs, Texas. A registered National Natural Landmark, the Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area was acquired by the State of Texas in 1985. Evening bat flight tours begin in May. Access the park by contacting the Devil's Sinkhole Society at (830) 683-BATS (2287) to prearrange a tour.

Are you as curious as we are about what ever happened to the short movie made in 1947 about the wonders of this cavern?

Images courtesy of Ben Lednicky.

The Mexican land grants along the Neches River in East Texas were similar in shape to land grants along the Rio Grande in South Texas – in that they were long stretches of land that fronted the river. Set up as a League of 4,428 acres, the S. K. Van Meter League was established on August 30, 1835 from Mexican empresario Lorenzo de Zavala. One of the first long term tenants on that land was not until after the U.S. Civil War, when Thomas F. and Rachel Brady built a home, and raised six children on the property.

Tax records from 1880 show they had 2 carriages, 4 horses, 32 head of cattle, and 54 hogs. Tom purchased the land in 1885 for back taxes and had stables for his horses and cultivated ten or fifteen acres of land in corn and cotton and sometimes sugar-cane. The first map from 1907 shows us the old wagon road that ran through the property, and the second map from 1940 highlights the initial 900+ acres that was acquired for Village Creek State Park in Hardin County Texas in 1979. Village Creek runs through the property on its way to the Neches River, and the park today is over 2400+ acres. The park is just east of Lumberton and north of Beaumont.

It's again, and this one goes out to all our Park Interpreters and volunteers, past and present, who have helped visitors appreciate the history, nature, and wonder of the parks around them.

The experience wouldn't be nearly as great without your guided tours, demonstrations (Dutch Oven cooking anyone?), or pure enthusiasm.

These are from several sets of recently scanned slides dating from the 1970s-1990s from a variety of parks and programs, and really demonstrate some of the breadth of interpretation.

On Monday, April 8, 2024 -- The moon will start to block the sun around noon. Totality, or a total eclipse of the moon will begin at 1:30 p.m. near Del Rio and trace a line northeast across Texas. The totality will last from a few seconds to about 4.5 minutes depending on where you are along the path. Only those in the path of totality will get the full eclipse experience. You will see a partial solar eclipse before and after the time of greatest coverage. If you’re outside of the eclipse’s path of totality, you will see a partial eclipse. For details on the eclipse, visit https://bit.ly/EclipseViewingTX -- we hope you get to experience this historic event in one of our Texas State Parks.

Are you prepared for the 2024 Solar Eclipse on April 8th? If you're thinking of waiting for the next one, would you believe Texas hasn't experienced a Total Solar Eclipse since 1878? The 1878 Solar Eclipse was a popular event around the country, with amateur astronomers packing up their telescopes and rushing to Texas and Colorado to catch a glimpse of an eclipse (top photo shows astronomers in Texas in 1878).

The Central Texas region has had to wait a little longer, as they haven't experienced one since 1397.

The next two total solar eclipses to touch Texas won't be until 2045 and 2052, and will only be visible in the northeastern corner of the Texas Panhandle and the Brownsville area, respectively.

So if you have the chance, find yourself some solar glasses and take part in an experience of a lifetime on Monday!

As Easter season rolls around the corner like some brightly dyed eggs, we’d like to share this image of an Easter service at Palo Duro Canyon in the 1940s.

This photo has everything but an Easter Bunny, featuring a choir in the shape of a cross, park buildings under construction, and a crowd bundled up against the cold of an early Panhandle spring.

A true Easter egg-stravaganza at the park.

Atlanta State Park buildings in the 1970s. Yes, that is fifty (50) years ago now when the 70s orange was in style.

Atlanta State Park is on the southern shoreline of Wright Patman Lake, formerly known as the Texarkana Reservoir or Lake Texarkana until December 15, 1973, when President Nixon officially designated the project as the Wright Patman Dam and Lake. The park is eleven miles northwest of Atlanta in northeast Texas, southwest of Texarkana. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the construction of the dam on the Sulphur River in 1953 and Texas Parks began leasing the land this area in 1954. These classic stone park buildings are still in use today.

If you are planning to be at one of our parks for the total eclipse in April, this is one of the parks in the direct path to watch the solar eclipse, so make your reservations today.

Aimme Douthitt Reed Alcus (1881-1959), was one of the first female park managers for Texas State Parks and started work at Davis Mountains in 1941. When she began work, “At the request of Mr. Quinn [Frank Quinn, Executive Director of the Texas Parks Board] we are sending you, under separate cover, a police whistle. Carry it with you at all times in your work in the Park and Lodge, and instruct your assistants that whenever you blow said whistle, they are to go to your side immediately for whatever aid or assistance you may need or desire.”

By 1942, she was setting up room and board for about 15 young army wives whose husbands were in training at the nearby air school at Marfa. Mrs. Alcus reported that she enjoyed looking after “this splendid group of young ladies who hail from many different states: California, Washington, Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. On March 10th, this group will attend the graduation of their husbands at Marfa, and then move on to unknown destinations with the best wishes of all.” During the war years, multiple groups of wives stayed at the Indian Lodge while their husbands trained at Marfa. Ms. Alcus excelled at her work at the park and departed by September of 1948. Could that be Douthitt in the center of this photo taken by Louise Randolph in the 1940s? Image courtesy of Linda Nettles and Michael David Gandy.

Minnie Lee Strain Watson (1888-1978) began working for Texas State Parks in 1944. She was the acting site manager at Balmorhea by the late 1940s and finished out her career as manager of Mother Neff State Park in the 1950s. She was recognized for 15 years of service in February of 1959, and retired by December of that year. Both Minnie and her husband Luther C. worked as park managers. Minnie Lee was one of our first female park managers. 💚