Balmorhea State Park TX

February 13, 2016

 We spent a day and night at this most unusual State Park billed as a "desert oasis".  The park's history in rather  interesting: its creation, as so many state and national parks,  is owed to FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps work-creation projects during the Depression.   The park's website says:

"The State Parks Board acquired nearly 46 acres around San Solomon Springs in 1934. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1856 built the park between 1935 and 1940.

CCC workers and supervisors pose in the bed of the pool.

Civilian Conservation Corps
Imagine yourself with little food, less money and no job. This was the case for many Americans during the Great Depression.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. The CCC provided jobs and job skills by hiring young men to work on conservation projects. The program enrolled men between the ages of 17 and 25 who qualified for public assistance. They earned clothing, food, medical care and $30 a month; they sent $25 of that home to their families.
Building Balmorhea
CCC Company 1856 arrived here in July 1934. They first built barracks, a mess hall and a kitchen to support 130 to 200 men and their supervisors. This would be home for the next few years.
The CCC men crafted a 1.75-acre pool around the springs, along with a concession building, two bath houses, San Solomon Courts, and other improvements in the park. They used local limestone and fashioned adobe bricks for building materials.
After laboring all day, the men enjoyed evenings in the rec hall and an occasional baseball game, dance or play. Many worked on skills training or correspondence courses at night.

In the 1930s and early 1940s, troops and horses of the 1^st Cavalry from Fort Bliss, Texas, camped nearby. They were among the first to enjoy the newly-built park.
The park became a center for travelers touring the area by car and a gateway stop for those heading to the popular Davis Mountains. Today, more than 200,000 people visit Balmorhea State Park each year.

And this is what the facilities look like today.  Ironically, the architecture and general feel of the place reminded me of "resorts" built pre-Revolution in Cuba...

The "largest" spring-fed swimming pool in the world?

 
The spring water which feeds the pool is between 72 and 76 degrees F year-round.  I swam with the ducks and small fish...

  Containment of the spring has depleted wetlands, which are now being revived in a small way to encourage wildlife to return.   Spring water is now used for irrigation of nearby crops. "Progress" comes at a cost, but the men and families who benefited from the CCC projects surely felt otherwise...difficult times led to difficult decisions...