Gibson Park

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Gibson Park in Weslaco, Hidalgo County. Now settle in, because this one starts in hard times and finds its way somewhere worth going. The Great Depression had a long reach, and it reached all the way down to the Rio Grande Valley.

Displaced Midwesterners came rolling into Weslaco and set up Hooverville shantytowns, doing what people do when the ground falls out from under them. They made do. But making do and living well are two different things, and somebody in Weslaco decided to try for something better.

In 1934, the Weslaco Lions Club went to work trying to establish a park. Now, a park doesn't just appear out of thin air, and here's where two names enter the story. William Henry Hoge and J.J.

Gibson donated acreage for the project. The park would carry Gibson's name going forward. By 1936, Weslaco's first municipal trailer park had opened on that land, serving as a tourist destination for campers and for folks living in trailers.

A place that began amid shantytowns had turned into somewhere people actually wanted to come. It ran as a trailer camp until 1946, and after that it kept on changing, developing into a neighborhood park. In time, the city opened the Valley Nature Center on the park's eastern portion, and Weslaco's ecotourism industry grew right along with it.

Recreational and commercial both, Gibson Park remains a vital landmark in Weslaco. From Hoovervilles to a nature center, that ground has held a whole lot of Texas history.

What the marker says

During the Great Depression, displaced Midwesterners came to Weslaco and established Hooverville shantytowns. Hoping to improve their living conditions, in 1934, the Weslaco Lions Club worked to establish a park. William Henry Hoge and J.J. Gibson, for whom the park would be named, donated acreage. Weslaco's first municipal trailer park opened in 1936 as a tourist destination for campers and for those living in trailers. It closed as a trailer camp in 1946, later developing into a neighborhood park. Weslaco's ecotourism industry also developed as the city opened the Valley Nature Center on the park's eastern portion. Recreationally and commercially, Gibson Park remains a vital landmark in Weslaco. (2010)