Time to Visit Mother [Neff State Park]
This is Passport to Texas
If you can’t visit your mother this Mother’s Day—spend time with ours: Mother Neff State Park, near Waco—Texas’ first official state park—named for Isabella Neff.
:08—She came to this area as a pioneer, and her youngest son, Pat Neff, went on to become the governor of Texas.
Leah Huth, park superintendent, says Mrs. Neff inspired her son to join with the national State Park movement.
:11—And she donated six acres down on the river for public use. That was the beginning of the land donation that later created the state park system.
Today the park, which sits on the banks of the Leon River, is 259 acres, and features structures built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Huth says spending time in the park gives her a sense of continuity and hope.
:26—The fact that a state park can still be just as beautiful today as it was when our settlers first came here…that gives me hope that in the future it’s going to continue. That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to preserve the 259 acres so it can be here another 50, 100, 150 years for the people that are living at that point in time to enjoy just as well as the people that are enjoying it today, as well as they enjoyed it when Mother Neff was here.
Learn more about the woman behind Mother Neff SP when you attend the presentation: Noble Woman, Worthy Cause at the park May 8th and 9th.
That’s our show for today. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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