Palmetto State Park 1/14 - 1/17/2025

 Palmetto State Park, Gonzales, TX

We spent two days at this park and were able to walk all of their trails.   The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)  did several projects at this park between 1933 and 1936. As part of the New Deal President Franklin Roosevelt created the CCC.  The purpose was to save what could be a lost generation due to the Great Depression.  These were young men with no work experience or skills.  The enrollees in the CCC were provided lodging and 3 meals a day in a time when neither was guaranteed.  They received $30 a month, $25 which went home to their families.  They provided 40 hours a week of work, learned valuable skills and also were educated with a focus on literacy.   Here are pictures of the buildings in this particular park.

       This building’s roof was originally a thatched roof using 35,000 palmetto leaves.

Ramjet pump built by the CCC. I a also including the information sign about the pump.  

                            

             These were hard to get in a photo, so we decided to just take the pic of the info

On one hike we saw several deer, lots of cardinals, several Red tailed hawks and even some wild pigs.  We were by a stream and saw something move, turned out to be 5 wild piglets.  We went a little further on the trail and there were several adults as well.  When we asked a park person about that, they said they are not native and have been damaging parts of the park.  Gotta wonder where they came from. 

Can you spot 2 baby pigs?

We also saw Texas Prickly Pear Cactus.  Boy the sections of the cactus seemed very large to me.  

Enjoy these pictures from around the park.

Palmetto Palms

                                                    View from our campsite

Interesting thing about seeing the trees bare is the appreciation you get for the infrastructure of branches.

This was also a getting back in the swing of things few days.  It’s amazing how quick you forget how you did things/where you kept things.  

Til next time!