Lake Polk Park

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad Company had just gotten Temple up and running, and they weren't the kind of outfit to leave things half-finished. They looked out at nearby Bird Creek, saw possibility where most folks saw a trickle, and built themselves a dam.

Just like that, a reservoir appeared, and with it a ready water supply for the young city. That's the kind of forward thinking that builds towns. But the story doesn't stop there.

By 1900, a group of investors had caught wind of that reservoir sitting out there, pretty as you please, and they formed an association with something grander in mind. They were going to build a park, and they were going to name it after railroad general manager L.J. Polk.

Lake Polk Park. Now this wasn't just a patch of grass and a bench. We're talking boating, fishing, croquet, tennis.

The whole civilized spread. And here's the part that gets me every time. Local citizens pitched in to landscape the place themselves, then turned around and paid a dime to enjoy what their own hands had helped shape.

Ten cents to walk through the gates. That's either community spirit or the slickest arrangement in Bell County history, and I'll let you decide. Over time the park quietly changed its nature.

First it became a private club, then later a city park. From railroad project to reservoir to playground to public ground, all along the same Bird Creek. Some places just keep finding new ways to matter.

What the marker says

Soon after establishing the city of Temple, the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad Company built a dam on nearby Bird Creek to create a reservoir and ready water supply. By 1900 a group of investors formed an association to develop a park at the site to be named in honor of railroad general manager L.J. Polk. The park offered such recreational opportunities as boating, fishing, croquet, and tennis. Local citizens assisted in landscaping the area and enjoyed the facilities for a ten-cent admission fee. The area eventually became a private club and, later, a city park. (1991)