By Violet Hassler, Staff Writer
Oklahoma’s parks usually boast some form of water play, and it turns out our state forefather’s planned it that way.
People gravitated toward parks because of those forms of water, be it lakes or streams or springs that pop up across northwest Oklahoma, said Kris Marek, director of state parks for the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.
In the 1930s, the state — as part of a national effort — started planning a series of parks as projects for the Civilian Conservation Corps, created to provide jobs for those affected by the hard economic realities of the times.
The idea, Marek said, was to provide parks so residents of the state would have an entertainment outlet within 50 miles.
One of those original parks, she said, was Boiling Springs State Park.
Sometimes known as the “Oasis of the West,” Marek said the land surrounding the park just east of Woodward was “quite a different property in the 1930s.”
The park was named for the natural springs bubbling up in the area, and those springs still showcased today are about to get a facelift, Marek said.
The springs earned their name because of the sandy nature of the area, she said. The water pushes through those sands and seems to boil out of the ground.
When the CCC built the park, the main spring was placed in a concrete structure to help condense the sand and keep the springs boiling up in that area.
Nothing much has been done as far as upkeep to Boiling Springs, so the park is long overdue, Marek said.
“It’s been used for over 70 years, with little capital funds until the last few years,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Already playground equipment has been replaced throughout the park, and the plan out for bid now is to enhance the area around the park’s main spring.
The designs call for a wood structure to give the area around the spring more of a 1930s feel, she said, and other improvements include better walking trails and accessibility and planting beds.
“It’s going to be a little more of a natural environment,” she said. “The springs need this work. It is the feature of the park.”
Boiling Springs also offers a lake for fishing. CCC constructed a wading pool below that lake that today still is popular among photographers.
In addition to the landscape, much has changed since 1930s, but our state parks still offer a chance for good family entertainment.
It is a chance to gather, explore and simply spend time together.
In a fast-paced world, that in itself is a priceless luxury.
The area that has become Boiling Springs State Park provided a slice of state history before the CCC ever broke ground on the park.
The CCC work now has become history in itself. Much of what those men constructed has gone away. Remnants still can be found in our parks, but rarely are they in use these days, more than 70 years later.
But the history stretches beyond.
Imagine what the first pioneers thought when they stumbled across these treasures that boiled out of the ground at their feet.
They truly were an “oasis” in a rolling landscape that for those pioneering travelers too soon became monotonous.
They still are treasures today. Slow down and go take a look.
Anyone with information or remembrances about history of the Enid area or northwest Oklahoma can contact the News & Eagle at violeth@enidnews.com.
