- City:
- Gonzales, TX
- Site Type:
- Picnic and Other Facilities, Parks and Recreation
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, National Youth Administration (NYA)
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1936
- Designer:
- Texas Highway Department
- Contractor:
- National Youth Administration
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The National Youth Administration (NYA) in cooperation with the Texas Highway Department created roadside picnic areas in Texas. The Gonzales park, constructed adjacent to U. S. Highway 183 near the south bank of the Guadalupe River was part of the development of roadside parks begun in 1935 in anticipation of tourists and visitors to Texas for the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration. The typically shaded areas of these roadside parks offered drivers and their passengers respite on hot summer days as cars of this era had no air conditioning. The Gonzales park is one of the few of the 674 parks constructed that remain and still has the NYA constructed stone tables, benches and retaining walls and stairs.
Source notes
Plaque on site.
A Guide to Depression Era Roadside Parks in Texas
https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/library/pubs/kids/roadside.pdf
Site originally submitted by Larry Moore on October 9, 2018.
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