Bonham State Park

Bonham State Park
The current park headquarters, originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps ca. 1935

Location	Fannin County, Texas
Nearest city	Bonham, Texas
Area	261 acres (106 ha)
Established	1933
Governing body	Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Bonham State Park is a 261-acre (1.06 km²) state park located in Bonham, Texas (in Fannin County, northeast of Dallas).^[1] It includes a 65-acre (260,000 m²) lake, rolling prairies, and woodlands.

History

The state acquired the land for the park in 1933 from the City of Bonham. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 894 developed the park between 1933 and 1936, landscaping the rocky, hilly terrain for erosion control and recreational purposes, and constructing an earthen dam to impound a sixty-five-acre lake. They constructed buildings of local cream-colored limestone and Eastern red cedar, working under the supervision of Bonham architect Joe C. Lair and San Antonio architect William C. Caldwell. The overall design exhibits a rustic style.

The CCC also built the entrance portal, concession building (currently the park headquarters and storage facility), waterfront storage building (currently the boat house), pavilion and dance terrace, picnic tables, barbecue pits, water fountains, vehicle and foot bridges, culverts and a water tower.

Activities

Bonham State Park Lake

There is (unsupervised) swimming and fishing in the lake as well as camping, picnicking, mountain biking, boating (5 mph speed limit).

Area Attractions

Nearby attractions include the Eisenhower State park, Eisenhower Birthplace and Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Sites. Bonham attractions include the Sam Rayburn Museum and the Sam Rayburn House Museum, both named in honor of Sam Rayburn. Rayburn was a Fannin County native who held the office of U.S. Speaker of the House for 17 years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.

Campsites & Other Facilities

Facilities include restrooms with and without showers; picnic sites (including one group picnic area); campsites with water and electricity; campsites with water; a group camp with barracks and a dining hall, which accommodates approximately 94 people (the facility is only rented as a single unit, not separately); an 11-mile (18 km) trail for mountain biking and hiking; a playground; a launching ramp; a boat dock; and a lighted fishing pier.

Natural Features

The park is situated in the Texas blackland prairies. The terrain is dominated by grassland interspersed by woodlands. More luxuriant woodlands occur along water courses and the lake's shoreline. Although the park's grasslands are no longer pristine, they are recovering nicely and have small areas dominated by little bluestem and bushy bluestem. The woodlands are composed of Texas live oak, eastern red cedar, bois d'arc, and Eve's Necklace, with sugarberry, cottonwood, black willow, and green ash becoming more common along the creeks and lake shore. Numerous wildflowers and flowering shrubs cover the gently rolling prairie in the spring, and stands of cedar and mixed hardwoods provide a panorama of multicolored leaves in the fall. Wildlife is limited because of the relatively small size of the park. However, the lake shoreline provides habitats for beaver, raccoon, opossum, and a number of visiting songbirds. Although a few woodland birds are permanent residents, visitor and migrant species outnumber the residents.

References

↑ "Bonham State Park". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved 8 March 2015.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bonham State Park.

Protected areas of Texas

Federal

National Parks	Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains

National Monuments and Memorials	Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Chamizal National Memorial Military Working Dog Teams National Monument Waco Mammoth National Monument

National Historical Parks and Historic Sites	Fort Davis NHS Lyndon B. Johnson NHP Palo Alto Battlefield NHP San Antonio Missions NHP

National Historic Trails	El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

National Recreation Areas	Amistad Lake Meredith

National Wildlife Refuges	Anahuac Aransas Attwater Prairie Chicken Balcones Canyonlands Big Boggy Brazoria Buffalo Lake Caddo Lake Grulla Hagerman Laguna Atascosa Little Sandy Lower Rio Grande Valley McFaddin Muleshoe Neches River San Bernard Santa Ana Texas Point Trinity River

National Forests	Angelina Davy Crockett Sabine Sam Houston

National Grasslands	Caddo Lyndon B. Johnson McClellan Creek Rita Blanca

Other Protected Areas	Big Thicket National Preserve Padre Island National Seashore Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River

State

State Parks and Natural Areas	Abilene Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area Atlanta Balmorhea Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center Bastrop Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Big Bend Ranch Big Spring Blanco Boca Chica Bonham Brazos Bend Buescher Caddo Lake Caprock Canyons Cedar Hill Chinati Mountains State Natural Area Choke Canyon Cleburne Colorado Bend Cooper Lake Copper Breaks Daingerfield Davis Hill Davis Mountains Devils River State Natural Area Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area Dinosaur Valley Eisenhower Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Estero Llano Grande Fairfield Lake Falcon Fort Boggy Fort Parker State Park Fort Richardson State Park Franklin Mountains Galveston Island Garner Goliad Goose Island Government Canyon State Natural Area Guadalupe River Hill Country State Natural Area Honey Creek State Natural Area Huntsville Indian Lodge Inks Lake Kickapoo Cavern Lake Arrowhead Lake Bob Sandlin Lake Brownwood Lake Casa Blanca International Lake Colorado City Lake Corpus Christi Lake Livingston Lake Mineral Wells Lake Somerville Lake Tawakoni Lake Texana Lake Whitney Lockhart Longhorn Cavern Lost Maples State Natural Area Martin Creek Lake Martin Dies Jr. Matagorda Island McKinney Falls Meridian Mission Tejas Monahans Sandhills Mother Neff State Park Mustang Island Old Tunnel Palmetto Palo Duro Canyon Palo Pinto Mountains Pedernales Falls Possum Kingdom Purtis Creek Ray Roberts Lake Resaca de la Palma San Angelo Sea Rim Sheldon Lake South Llano River Stephen F. Austin Tyler Village Creek Walter Umphrey Wyler Aerial Tramway

State Historic Sites	Acton Admiral Nimitz Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos Battleship TEXAS Caddoan Mounds Casa Navarro Confederate Reunion Grounds Eisenhower Birthplace Fanthorp Inn Fannin Battleground Fort Griffin Fort Lancaster Fort Leaton Fort McKavett Fort Richardson State Park Fulton Mansion Goliad Hueco Tanks Kreische Brewery Landmark Inn Levi Jordan Plantation Lipantitlan Lyndon B. Johnson Magoffin Homestead Mission Espiritu Santo Mission Rosario Monument Hill Penn Farm Point Isabel Lighthouse Sabine Pass Battleground Sam Bell Maxey House Samuel T. Rayburn House San Felipe San Jacinto Battleground Sauer-Beckmann Farm Seminole Canyon Starr Family Home Varner–Hogg Plantation Washington-on-the-Brazos Zaragoza Birthplace

State Forests and Arboretums	E.O. Siecke I.D. Fairchild John Henry Kirby Masterson W. Goodrich Jones Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum Olive Scott Petty Arboretum

State Wildlife Trails	Great Texas Coastal Heart of Texas Panhandle Plains Prairies and Pineywoods

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

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