Scientists believe Caddo Lake formed when floodwater, blocked by massive log jams on the Red River, backed up into the Cypress Bayou watershed.
Caddo Lake was artificially dammed in the early 1900s, when oil was found, and for flood control in 1914.
Enter the Civilian Conservation Corps
During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps. 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, much of which they sent home to their families.
Historic CCC Features
Civilian Conservation Corps built the first structures in Caddo Lake State Park. Company 889 began the work done June to November of 1933. Company 857 continued construction from October 1934 to March 1937.
CCC workers converted 15 U.S. Army barracks and an Army mess hall into the nine log cabins and group recreation hall that still in use at the park today. Other facilities still in use include picnic sites, Park Road 2 and trails. Look for the CCC pavilion and remnants of original picnic sites and a latrine along the trails.
Source Texas Parks and Wildlife | Video by Houston Brown
