Celebrating 100 Years of Texas State Parks
2023 Marks 100 Years of Texas State Parks
With the boom of the industrial revolution, growth of automobiles and inevitably more roads for people to travel on, the United States Government founded the National Park Service in 1916 to conserve our natural land for future generations to enjoy and thus protect them from the growth of industry and cities. Fast forward a few years to 1923, Governor Neff appointed a Texas State Parks board to help locating sites for the establishment of a state parks system because in his eyes “Texas is rich and diversified in climate, in scenery of natural beauty, and in the variety of its native plant and animal life…ideal for the location of public parks and recreational centers.”
Over the next 100 years our State Park System has grown to include 74 state parks (soon to be 75) and over 16,000 historical markers mark our roads sharing with our community the history of this diverse state.