Texas State Parks and the CCC: The Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps

Park Profiles

Abilene State Park Location: Taylor County, near Buffalo Gap and Tuscola, FM 89 to Park Road 32 Dates of CCC activity: 1933–1935 CCC companies: 1823(V) and 1823(CV) CCC construction: Concession building, swimming pool, two pool shelters, pergolas , water tower, stone pump house, stone seats and picnic tables, round table, and fireplaces. Entrance portals and culverts were lost when Park Road 32 was widened. Park description: Appearing as verdant woodlands among the low limestone hills of north-central Texas’ Callahan Divide, Abilene State Park and its attendant groves of oak, elm, and pecan trees sit along Elm Creek and Lake Abilene. The 529acre park was developed in several stages: fall of 1933 through September 1934; and Park Profiles Concession building stairway, Abilene State Park, postcard, ca. 1933–1934. (TPWD) 121 June–September 1935—by two distinct CCC companies—one a mixed-race unit of World War I veterans, and the other an all-black veterans’ group. Working with native and local materials, such as limestone and red Permian sandstone, these mature men crafted the concession building’s high masonry arches and the pool shelter’s pyramidal roofs, designs reminiscent of classic Romanesque architecture. The many cut red-sandstone features—visible on structures as diverse as picnic tables and pergolas —were the vision of Texas architects David Castle of Abilene and Olin Boese and F. W. Digby-Roberts of the State Parks Board’s Central Design Office in Austin, whose efforts were funded by the NPS. Balmorhea State Park Location: Reeves County, in Toyahville, State Highway 17 at Park Road 30 Dates of CCC activity: 1934–1940 CCC company: 1856 CCC construction: Park Road 30, entrance portals, concession building, bathhouses, cabins (San Solomon Courts), pergolas, shelters, pool, pump house, fences, retaining walls, vehicle and footbridges, pool drain conduit, and caretaker’s residence. Park description: Long an important resource, San Solomon Springs was likely visited by Spanish explorer Antonio de Espejo in 1583. Centuries later, settlers arrived in the arid region, built irrigation ditches, and began farming. In the early twentieth century, engineer and manager E. D. Balcom joined with investors H. R. Morrow, Joe Rhea, and John Rhea to form an irrigation company and in the process gave the town its name (Bal-mor-rhea). Seeing the headwaters of San Solomon Springs as an attractive location for a park, the State Parks Board acquired the land in 1934. The next year, the CCC began construction of a huge double-winged swimming pool at those headwaters. Using local limestone and adobe bricks, the enrollees, largely area residents, soon completed roads, buildings, bridges, and irrigation conduits throughout the 43-acre park. Architect William G. Wuehrman led a team of architects that included Olin Boese, Paul E. Pressler, George T. Patrick, and F. W. Digby-Roberts through the planning and design phases. They were funded by the NPS and employed by the State Parks Board. Among the notable buildings are the caretaker’s residence and San Solomon Courts. A paean to early automobile travelers on US Highway 290, the courts were distinctive one-story, red tile–roofed, white-plastered, adobe brick cabins that had garages in each of the eighteen units. Soon after Company 1856 left in January 1940, Balmorhea State Park had become both a center for travelers touring the region by car and a gateway stop for those heading to the Davis Mountains. Pool at San Solomon Springs, Balmorhea State Park. (Photo by J. Griffis Smith, 2005, TxDOT) 122 Balmorhea State Park Bastrop State Park Location: Bastrop County, 1 mile east of Bastrop, State Highway 21 to Park Road 1a Dates of CCC activity: 1933–1939 CCC companies: 1805 and 1811 CCC and other New Deal construction: Entrance portals, Park Road 1, stone curbing, fencing, culverts, scenic overlooks, stone tables and seats, picnic fire pits, amphitheater , campground shelter, water fountains, refectory, group picnic pavilion, custodian’s dwelling (currently a cabin), helper’s quarters, group latrine (later a cabin, currently storage), additional cabins, golf pro shop and associated golf shop (currently the “Caddyshack” and storage), restrooms, and pump house (no longer in use). The keeper’s residence and storage were designed but not built. The swimming pool, bathhouse, and pool shelter are the work of the WPA; the maintenance building was built by the NYA (currently the State Parks Sign Shop). Park description: Easily one of the most popular and beautifully rendered parks in Texas and beyond, 6...