The Walker County Historical Commission presented a preservation award to the staff of the Huntsville State Park this week for its work in restoring and preserving the Raven Lodge at the lake’s edge.
The lodge was built by members of Civilian conservation Corps unit 1823, a part of the organization created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to provide work during the Great Depression, but also develop public infrastructure.
Unit 1823 was an African-American unit and it worked on the park from 1937 to 1942. During that period more than 50 parks were created in Texas alone. The workers, all men in those days, were paid a dollar a day and given room and board. A monthly allotment check of $25 was sent to directly to each man’s family.
The unit contained some skilled carpenters and masons and their craftsmanship still can be seen through the lodge.
According to James Patton, Commission chairman, the lodge has had a variety of uses over the years. For more than a decade the lake was closed because a dam broke and it lost its water. The lodge, though, remained in use and then later the dam was rebuilt and the park opened in its current configuration.
For the last decade the lodge has been restored in stages and today is used by various groups for events. Patton said the preservation and restoration was why the Commission chose the park to receive theaward. He said 17 awards have been given over the past 25 years and he said he hoped another half dozen would be presented between now and early next year.
Several members of the commission were present at the noon-time ceremony, which was a part of a day of seminars conducted as a part of a Sam Houston State University public history class. The day involved 12 presentations involving 18 students and covered Walker County History in the 1930s. Jeff Littlejohn, a member of the Commission, instructs that class.
Several members of the Commission were at the ceremony along with Patton, including Diane Linklater, Beverly Hansen, Lee Murrah, Paul Culp and Connie Heiland. Chrissy Halpern accepted the award on behalf of the park. – Connie Heiland, Walker Free Press
