Mother Neff State Park, 1
Monday, May 4th, 2009Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
Governor Pat Neff may have named the park for his mother, but Isabella Neff got the ball rolling by willing several acres of the family homestead to “the people.”
She put it in her will in 1916 that she wanted part of the homestead to be a park to the pubic for religious, educational, fraternal and political purposes.
Leah Huth is Mother Neff State Park Superintendent. Even before Neff’s passing, Huth says people living near Waco and Temple used the land.
The people in the area were used to going there and meeting up with all of their neighbors. And she wanted that tradition to continue after she passed away. So, she instructed her son Pat to erect a fence around the plot and to construct a substantial building in the nature of a pavilion, and wanted it to be called something like the Neff Park; and of course, they ended up calling it Mother Neff.
The Civilian Conservation Corps, which in the 1930s built several structures at the park still in use today, started a tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day there.
People from all over came. And we have pictures of all of the CCC boys lined up in a star around the flagpole. It was just a very special time. It was often that Mother’s Day was celebrated here at the park.
Take your mother to Mother Neff State Park. Learn more about it at passporttotexas.org.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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May 2009 — Mother Neff SP — Chautauqua Time — Every Saturday. Rich in natural and cultural features, exciting trails and an abundance of wildlife, the park has 259 acres just waiting to be explored. Link up with a Park Ranger each week to join the fun. The activities and topics change every week with the Ranger and the weather; however programs are conducted rain or shine! 10-11 a.m. (254) 853-2389.
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