Lake Sweetwater Recreation Area – Sweetwater TX

City:
Sweetwater, TX

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation, Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers, Golf Courses, Amphitheaters and Bandshells, Shelters

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Started:
1933

Completed:
1935

Designer:
Dewitt Carlock Greer

Quality of Information:
Moderate

Marked:
No

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

In the summer of 1933, the City of Sweetwater offered land on Lake Sweetwater to the State of Texas in exchange for the state developing a park. Development started with the Civil Works Administration in the winter of 1933 with construction of a refectory at the site.

In fall 1934, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(V) arrived to continue work. The company was a mix of white and black enrollees. Six months later the unit became the state’s only all black company. As a result, politicians demanded the removal of the camp, and the company moved to Lake Abilene State Park.

While the CCC was at Lake Sweetwater, they improved the golf course and added shelters, overlooks and other features. The refectory became the park keeper’s residence for awhile. Most of the structures are now abandoned and suffering from neglect.

The land transaction from the city to the state never took place. The project was changed from a state park to a metropolitan park, which it remains today.

Source notes

Steely, James Wright. "Parks For Texas: Enduring Landscapes of the New Deal." Austin: U of Texas, 1999. Print. p215.

Site originally submitted by Larry Moore on November 9, 2015.

Location Info


200 FM 2035
Sweetwater, TX 79556
Nolan County

Coordinates: 32.4426642, -100.3050414

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One comment on “Lake Sweetwater Recreation Area – Sweetwater TX

  1. Thank you for sharing this! My grandfather was John C. Morris, and he was the city civil engineer and was involved with these and other projects around Sweetwater.

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Contribute to this Site

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One comment on “Lake Sweetwater Recreation Area – Sweetwater TX

  1. Thank you for sharing this! My grandfather was John C. Morris, and he was the city civil engineer and was involved with these and other projects around Sweetwater.

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.