* Historic Roadside Park * Traditional Cache
A cache by 98x Message this owner
Hidden : 2/27/2013
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

You are looking for a home-made container that is painted a real pretty purple. Should be easy to spot, right? (or not)This one has a high degree of difficulty due to its non-traditional manner of hiding. 
 

This park offers plenty of parking, picnic tables, and ample room for pets and humans to stretch their legs. Skeeter dope is a must here on warm days. Remember, this is a 5 difficulty. NOT A PARK AND GRAB! Please be careful, always stay safe, and enjoy the hunt. There is also an older cache very nearby from a different Cache owner. Please enjoy your visit to this historic old park and be safe.
Built in the l930s, this roadside park holds a special place in East Texas history. It is one of only sixteen Depression-era roadside parks left in East Texas.

To understand the significance of these highway landmarks, you have to imagine a time when automobiles lacked air conditioning, highway travel was young and life moved at a slower pace. 

To meet the needs of travelers for places where they could stop for rest and eat their lunches, Texas began creating roadside parks in the l930s. Built in typically shady areas, the parks offered drivers and their passengers some respite on hot summer days. Where natural shade was unavailable, the Texas Highway Department built shelters and arbors.

Texas started building roadside parks in 1935 and by 1938 there were 674 such “wayside” parks scattered throughout Texas. Today, only 41 of the 1930s-style parks still exist statewide. 

Most of the old parks were built by the National Youth Administration during the Great Depression. The NYA provided employment to young people between 16 and 25. Lyndon B. Johnson, the nation’s 36th president, was the first director of the Texas NYA from 1935 to 1937. 

Using NYA labor, the Texas Highway Department launched the parks program to meet the expected influx of visitors for the 1936 Texas Centennial. 

Today, most of the parks are only memories. Some closed when traffic flowed to newer, faster highways. Others were shut down when they deteriorated and became maintenance problems. Some became victims of vandalism and vagrancy.
Today, East Texas’ remaining Depresssion-era parks supposedly stand in an area stretching from Hopkins County to Hardin County. Here are their locations (if they are still there). 

Hopkins County: SH 19, 7.5 miles north of Sulphur Springs, and FM. 67, 3.5 miles west of Weaver. 
Franklin County: U.S. 67, two miles east of Mount Vernon, and S.H. 37, 7.5 miles north of Winnsboro.
Bowie County, U.S. 67, 1.5 miles east of Simms.
Cass County, S.H. 49, 1.5 miles northwest of Avinger.
Harrison County, U.S. 80, eight miles east of Marshall. 
Marion County, FM 2208, a half mile east of U.S. 59, south ofJefferson. 
Panola County, FM 959, four miles north of Tatum. 
Shelby County, U.S. 59, six miles north of Timpson. 
Sabine County, SH 184, 4.7 miles west of Hemphill, and Spur 35, two miles south of its junction with SH 21.
San Augustine County, SH 21, three miles west of San Augustine. 
Newton County, U.S. 190, three miles southeast of Newton. 
Tyler County, U.S. 287, five miles north of Woodville.
Hardin County, U.S. 69, 10.7 miles southeast of Kountze.

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