DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Civilian Conservation Corps at Abilene State Park, out there in Taylor County. Now, 1933 was a hard year across this country. Men were out of work, families were struggling, and something had to give.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress decided that something would be the Civilian Conservation Corps — the CCC — created that same year to put unemployed workers to work on public lands.
Specifically young men, and World War I veterans. Men who had already given plenty and found themselves with nowhere to go. The City of Abilene saw what this program could mean.
Didn't waste any time about it either. Right there in 1933, the city donated land for the CCC to use in building a state park near Lake Abilene. And the company that got assigned to this Taylor County site?
Company No. 1823 — one of the companies comprised entirely of World War I veterans. Men who knew something about hard work, and harder times. They didn't just show up and start swinging hammers at random, either.
They had a design — drawn up by Abilene architect David Castle. And with that plan in hand, they got to work. Native sandstone was their primary building material, and out of it they shaped a refectory, roads, picnic areas, and a swimming pool.
You can picture those men, veterans of a World War, hauling stone in the Texas sun, building something that would outlast all of them. May 10, 1934. That's when Abilene mayor C.L.
Johnson stepped up at the opening ceremony and called it — and I think he got this exactly right — "a beautiful spot of great recreational benefit." And on that same occasion, State Parks Board chairman D. E. Colp formally dedicated the new state park.
It was official. Something lasting had been made. But the story doesn't stop there.
In 1935, a reactivated Company No. 1823 came back to Abilene State Park. This time, the company was comprised of African American veterans. They returned to the same grounds and kept building — culverts, a water tower, latrines, road and stonework repairs — before moving on to Kerrville.
Different men, same company number, same commitment to leaving something behind worth looking at. And here's the thing about the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps: you can still see it. Right there at Abilene State Park.
One of more than fifty public parks across Texas that carry the mark of CCC labor and craftsmanship. The stone is still standing. That's not nothing — that's everything.
What the marker says
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 to provide jobs on public lands for unemployed workers, specifically young men and World War I veterans. Quick to recognize the benefits of this program, the City of Abilene donated land in 1933 for the CCC's use in building a state park near Lake Abilene. Company No. 1823, one of the companies comprised entirely of World War I veterans, was assigned to the Taylor County site. Using the design of Abilene architect David Castle, the men constructed a refectory in addition to roads, picnic areas and a swimming pool with native sandstone as the primary building material. Abilene mayor C.L. Johnson declared it "a beautiful spot of great recreational benefit" at the opening ceremony on May 10, 1934, during which State Parks Board chairman D. E. Colp formally dedicated the new state park. In 1935 a reactivated CCC Company No. 1823, comprised of African American veterans, returned to Abilene State Park for additional work. They built culverts, a water tower and latrines, and undertook some road and stonework repairs before moving on to Kerrville. The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps is still visible at Abilene State Park, one of more than 50 public parks in Texas that benefited from labor and craftsmanship of the men of the CCC. (2001)