First Roadside Park in Texas
La Grange, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established fall 1933, when a local state highway official built tables and benches (since then replaced ) here to encourage motorists to stop and rest. Texas was one of the first states to sponsor building of roadside parks, which provided work for many of the unemployed during the 1930's depression. Early highway beautification efforts also started here. Today areas along Texas highways are noted for their landscaping and abundance of native wildflowers. Texas roadside parks, many of which have restrooms and cook-out areas, totaled 1,008 in 1967.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the fall of 1933, a state highway official set out tables and benches here so weary motorists would stop and rest, creating what Texas remembers as its first roadside park. The idea spread quickly, giving Depression-era work to the unemployed and seeding a tradition of highway beautification. Native wildflowers and landscaped rest stops along Texas roads grew from this modest beginning.
Why it matters
The roadside park captures the Depression-era marriage of public works and the automobile age, when putting people to work and welcoming travelers became the same civic project.
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