Mother Neff State Park, State park in Coryell County, United States
Mother Neff State Park covers 259 acres on the Leon River west of Moody in Coryell County. The land lies in the flood plain and includes four habitats: river bottomlands, lower ravines, higher ravines and upper prairie. A dense woodland of Ashe juniper, honey mesquite, bastard oak and Texas live oak fills much of the park, with a dirt path running through the undergrowth.
Isabella Eleanor Neff, mother of Governor Pat Morris Neff, donated the first 6 acres in 1916; after her death in 1921 the governor created Mother Neff Memorial Park, Texas's first state park. In 1934 Governor Neff deeded 250 acres and Frank Smith 3 acres. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 817 built the park's roads, trails and structures from 1934 to 1938.
Company 817 of the Civilian Conservation Corps built the park between 1934 and 1938, cutting local limestone and hardwoods — oak, elm, juniper and cottonwood — for the entrance portals, concession club house, caretaker's building, fences and picnic areas. The same crew laid out roads and trails and terraced the Leon River flood plain.
The park lies on the Leon River west of Moody, reached by County Road 314, the 1939 road known as Old River Road or Oglesby Neff Park Road. Most of the grounds sit in the river flood plain, so check conditions before setting out. The lower half has stayed closed since the 2015 flood; the camping loop and visitor center built above the floodplain opened that same year.
The park's entrance portals, concession clubhouse, caretaker's building, pump and drainage systems, fences and picnic areas were all built by Civilian Conservation Corps Company 817 between 1934 and 1938. The company worked with limestone and local hardwoods — oak, elm, juniper and cottonwood — and also terraced the Leon River flood plain. The district joined the National Register of Historic Places on October 2, 1992.
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