First Texas Roadside Park, and Cow Creek, a favorite swimming hole in East Texas. (original) (raw)
One of the minute morsels of Texas history is that the state's first roadside park was built in 1930 beside Cow Creek on U.S. Highway 190 in Newton County, a part of lower East Texas.
But history doesn't record the troubles the late R.W. Wingate of Woodville encountered in trying to get this piece of trivia corrected in the history of Texas' highways.
In 1930 Wingate was working as a road foreman for the old Texas Highway Department (it is now known as the Texas Department of Transportation) when he built the roadside park on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. L. Wilkerson. The highway at that time was known as Texas 87.
In the mid-l970s when the Highway Department put together a history of its accomplishments, the state's first roadside park was credited to Fayette County, where a park was built six years and 32 days later than Wingate�s creation in Newton County.
Bothered by the error, Wingate -- now retired -- made it a personal odyssey to rectify the piece of history. He spent weeks gathering evidence, including statements from people who participated in the Cow Creek opening, old newspaper accounts and copies of the Wilkersons' property deeds. Wingate's accumulation of evidence offered proof that not just one East Texas roadside park, but three, were built before the Fayette County park.
Jasper County's park on U.S. Highway 96 was built five years and 64 days before Fayette County and Tyler County's park on U.S. 287 preceded the mid-Texas stop by two years and three days.
Newton County's pioneer park was more than just a few picnic tables beside the highway. It also included a bath house on Cow Creek, a favorite swimming hole in Newton County.
Armed with his evidence, Wingate appealed to the Texas Highway Commission in Austin, asking that the error be corrected. He reminded the Austin bureaucrats the Newton County park had the approval of Division Engineer E.R. Madden, Texas Highway Engineer Gibb Gilchriest, and Texas Highway Commission Chairman Judge Ealy.
The Commission knew Wingate had them over a barrel and in 1975 the Commission passed an official order recognizing Newton County's 1930 park and Wingate's role in its construction.
"He pioneered the concept which became the inspiration for today's hundreds of safety rest areas for enjoyment, convenience and safety of the traveling public," said the order. "Mr. Wingate helped establish traditions that evolved into traveler amenities along the state highway system of Texas."
Wingate's park still stands in Newton County, three miles southeast of the town of Newton, where it is maintained in a style befitting the first in Texas. But, unfortunately, a plaque at the site says the park was built in 1936 -- six years later than Wingate's inception date.
March 10, 2002 Column
(Bob Bowman of Lufkin is the author of more than 40 books about East Texas.)
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