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Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Last modified at 2:23 a.m. on Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Lubbock Avalache-Journal
Crosby County site to receive face-lift
By MARY ALICE ROBBINS
Morris News Service
AUSTIN Ð Silver Falls, a popular site in Crosby County for travelers and locals, will receive a face-lift if the Texas Transportation Commission accepts a staff recommendation for federal funding.
The three-member commission is expected Thursday to divvy up about $128 million in federal funds allocated for the statewide transportation enhancement program.
A $2.7 million proposal to restore the nine-acre Silver Falls rest area is one of the projects being recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation staff.
Penny Mason, spokeswoman for TxDOT's Lubbock district office, said the project would involve replacing or repairing the native stone facilities, some of which were built by the National Youth Administration as part of the 1930s Work Program Administration.
TxDOT also plans to turn the site into a welcome center, complete with a visitor's kiosk containing maps, travel information and a history of the area, Mason said.
Located in the scenic Blanco Canyon almost five miles east of Crosbyton on U.S. 82, the falls apparently have attracted human visitors for at least 700 years.
Verna Anne Wheeler, executive director of the Crosbyton County Pioneer Memorial Museum, said pottery shards found in the area originated in the pueblos of New Mexico around 1315. By the late 1800s, the falls had become a favorite recreation spot for ranch hands and early settlers to the Llano Estacado, she said.
By 1919, the area had attracted developers. Wheeler said a skating rink, dance hall and bath house opened for swimmers, and visitors came from around the region to enjoy what was known then as the Silver Falls Lake Resort.
The lake no longer exists, and the businesses are gone, but Mason said the area continues to attract visitors for family reunions, nature walks, birthday parties and picnics.
"It is wonderful to have a retreat like that," Wheeler said. "If we could get it restored again, that would be absolutely marvelous."
Mason said the district wants to retain the integrity of the picnic tables, barbecue pits and other structures built in the 1930s on the slopes and at the bottom of the canyon. That part of the rest area is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, she said.
The project also will involve renovating the viewing area for the natural spring fountain, adding flagstone walks, improving the lighting and adding picnic areas and truck parking.
Mason said the district will pay $545,879 of the project costs and is seeking almost $2.2 million in federal funds.