George Bush Park
| George Bush Park | |
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The Buffalo Bayou in southern George Bush Park.
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| Type | public park, wildlife sanctuary |
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Coordinates | 29°43′29.33″N 95°41′22.20″W / 29.7248139°N 95.6895000°WCoordinates: 29°43′29.33″N 95°41′22.20″W / 29.7248139°N 95.6895000°W |
| Area | 7,800 acres (32 km2) |
| Created | 1940s |
| Operated by | Harris County Precinct Three Commissioner - Steve Radack |
George Bush Park is a county park in Houston, Texas in the United States. It covers 7,800 acres (32 km2). It was previously known as Cullen-Barker Park.
The federal government opened the Barker Reservoir in the 1940s, mainly for Buffalo Bayou flood control. The present area occupies about half of the original area.
The park stayed under the name Cullen-Barker Park until January 1997, when Commissioner Steve Radack proposed the name George Bush Park in honor of the 41st president of the United States George H. W. Bush. In May, the former president attended the opening ceremony, and the park received its new name.
Due to the ongoing Texas drought, on 13 September 2011, Houston Firefighters were dispatched to the park responding to a wildfire. The fire quickly grew and the firefighters were sent to the north levee near I-10 to wait for the fire to come to them and stop it there. At one point the fire was one mile wide, consuming 1,500-acres of the park, with the cause under investigation.
Before the area was known as part of Houston, the marsh was part of the Stephen F. Austin colony. After settlers in the area moved out of the park, much of its land was sold to ranchers.
In the 1880s, a railway named the Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad ran trains from Houston to surrounding areas. Barely lasting one decade, the line was forced to shut down due to bankruptcy, yet still the park considers it a heritage.
Cattle and farms occupied the area throughout the early 1900s, until the it became parkland in the mid-1940s.
The large park, located on the far west side of Houston, serves as an attraction and nature reserve for the Buffalo Bayou, a major water source in the park.
Most of the attractions are located on Westheimer Parkway (not to be mistaken with Westheimer Road/F.M. 1093), a major thoroughfare in the park. The park hosts a large group of soccer fields, baseball/softball fields, a shooting range, model aircraft flying fields, and numerous pavilions, playgrounds, ponds and jogging trails. The park is also a popular Geocaching destination.
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Wikipedia