I remember as a kid coming to family reunions in Davy Crockett Memorial Park. We would all gather at the 'Senior Citizen Center' (that's what most of the locals refer to it as, the proper name is the Service Center for Older Americans of Houston County) . After all the hugs and pleasantries, the lunch meal would be served. Then, after stuffing ourselves with as much as you could hold on a paper plate, including dessert, we youngins would make our way off in to the park to explore.
There was a pen near the Senior Citizen Center that had Whitetail deer in it. There was the old armory complete with a real Army tank, and there was the Davy Crockett Memorial Bldg. According to Mrs. Billie Nichols Bennett, who by the way has a great historical web page for Houston County, in 1936, the State of Texas wanted to provide permanence to the Centennial observance by the erection of permanent buildings, monuments, statues, and grave markers. Every county in the state received a marker indicating the date of its establishment and the source of its name. Permanent buildings that received financial assistance from the Commission of Control included the David Crockett Memorial Building at Crockett. Mrs. Bennett's web page, in case you are interested, is http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txhousto/.
Unfortunately some years back, the Memorial Building, like many structures, was torn down, the reason being the cost of repair would have been more than the building itself was worth. But I know many have great memories of dances and parties that were held in the Memorial Building.
The Davy Crockett Park of today looks quite a bit different than it did back then, but there is still lots of things to do. There is a walking trail that meanders through the park, baseball and softball fields are abuzz with activity in early summer, and the City pool is alive with kids trying to beat the summer heat. And there's even a fish pond, that will hopefully host the first annual Take-a-Kid Fishing Day next spring. On any given summer evening, you will find folks enjoying the park, walking on the trail, swinging on the swing set, or just gathered up at a picnic table visitin'. Summertime in East Texas, you can't beat it, and just another reason I love Crockett, Texas!
What are your memories of Davy Crockett Park? I'd love to hear from you.
Though I am newcomer (yes, another transplant from Houston!), I, too, love Crockett, Texas. Actually I am a little more in love with my personal part of Houston County and I write about it almost daily in my blog www.dirtroadheaven.com. Always a country girl at heart .. and now one all the way down to my bare toes. Small towns ROCK .. and the people there are just the best. Happy Fourth of July, ya'll & God Bless America!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Darlene. I stopped by your little piece of 'internet heaven'. You have a great blog. By the way that little piggy would make some nice bacon. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I have great memories of Davy Crockett Park! I learned to swim there, learned to play tennis there, had Girl Scout meetings, watched the deer and the squirrels in the pens, took photos for the high school yearbook on the rocks behind the Memorial Building, went to the Fiddler's Festival (when it was outdoors like God meant it to be!), and, oh my, the high school football games at old Bulldog Stadium! In summer recreation programs, we could spend the entire day at the park, it seemed--swimming, tennis, crafts, and more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Janet for sharing those memories, sounds like a 'storybook' childhood growing up in Crockett.
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