Concession Building, Lake Mineral Wells State Park, 2005

There is a CCC park in Mineral Wells, Texas, but it is the city's Pollard Creek Park, not Lake Mineral Wells State Park. The state park's sandstone concession building was constructed by the Civil Works Administration, a predecessor to the Works Progress Administration. Like the CCC, the CWA built rustic facilities blending in comfortably with the surrounding terrain. The concession building and sandstone picnic tables, benches, and fire pits demonstrate "NPS Rustic" as understood by the CWA's own talented architects. The example of Mineral Wells, Texas, reminds us that several agencies were inspired by a similar aesthetic. The CCC did build the lion's share of Texas's parks, but other New Deal agencies were also at work.

Texas Parks and Wildlife