 Dallas Morning News
September 9, 1945 TEXOMA AS A MECCA OF RECREATION SCENE The weekend visit of three Governors to Denison Dam and Lake Texoma focused attention Saturday on what can become a great Southwest recreational center if National Park Service recommendations are carried out. Gov. Coke Stevenson went to Denison Saturday to meet Govs. Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma and Andrew Schoeppel of Kansas and inspect the $60,000,000 dam and hydroelectric plant. The also will see the huge, dragon-like 145,000 acre lake. Along Texoma's 1,200 miles of shoreline, matched by hundreds of coves and inlets, the National Park Service has recommended about $5,600,000 of development by the government to provide recreational facilities.
RAYBURN ASKED SURVEY At the request of Speaker Sam Rayburn of Bonham in 1940 the Secretary of the Interior designated the National Park Service to survey the recreational possibilities of the lake. With a special congressional appropriation, the park service made the survey in 1943 and 1944 with the result that a comprehensive plan was outlined for postwar development of to serve 6,000,000 persons living within a 200-mile radius. Two major recreational areas were set up in the National Park Service plan. One is a 7,650 acre area on the Preston Bend section of the lake on the Texas side northwest of Denison. The other is a 5,600 acre on the Washita Point section in Oklahoma near Kingston. Three other minor areas in Oklahoma and one in Texas are proposed for the project.  Lake Texoma Oklahoma shores Plans for the two major areas, which are readily accessible by highway, call for facilities for fishing, swimming, picnicking, camping, horseback riding, golf, baseball, and other sports. Also proposed in the plans are organized camp facilities, overnight accommodations including campgrounds, housekeeping cabins, hotel-type cabins and rooms, fisherman's barracks, and boating facilities. A Negro recreational area lying southeast of the Preston Bend area also was planned.
Principal site for the recommended recreational developments such as boat harbor, beach, lodge and cabins is at the head of the peninsula on a tract of about 1,000 acres. Little Mineral Bay, which borders the west side of Preston Bend area, the park service sees as a highly desirable fishing area and has proposed installation there of Grandpappy Point Fishing Village. Because of its rugged, irregular shoreline, Mineral Bay has hundreds of secluded spots coves and small bays.  The secondary Texas area proposed is Wills Crossing, about fifteen miles north of Whitesboro. It is an area of about 1,430 acres, half timber. The National Park Service has published a ninety-eight-page booklet covering its recommendations for development of the lake area and its studies of the historical and recreational resources. Lonnie S. Fuller, supervisor of the Lake Texoma Recreational Area, reports 2,163 permits to use boats on the lake have been issued. Thirteen hundred application by individuals, churches, lodges, labor organizations, clubs and boy girl organizations have been filed to build recreational facilities along the lake. The Texoma cities and towns in Texas include Denison, Gainesville, Gordonville, Pottsboro, Sherman and Whitesboro.  Waterways If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |
