Mission Tejas State Park is located in the Piney Woods of East Texas along the El Camino Real/SH 21 in Cherokee Co. TX. It preserves the site of Mission San Francisco with a CCC-built representation of a mission chapel the CCC called Mission Tejas. The park also holds wagon ruts of the El Camino Real, and a historic log cabin/Stagecoach Inn owned and operated by pioneer settler Joseph R. Rice.
From the Texas Parks and Wildlife website: (
visit link)
"Things to Do
Activities include camping, picnicking, hiking and fishing. A pond located near the picnic area offers an excellent opportunity to explore aquatic life and fish. Hiking and nature trails provide access to the natural beauty of the East Texas Pineywoods. The dogwoods are beautiful the last week or so of March, usually around the 25th.
The park was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a commemorative representation of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, the first Spanish mission in the province of Texas, which was established in 1690. Also in the park is the restored Rice Family Log Home, built in 1828 and restored in 1974. The home is one of the oldest structures in the area. The home served as a stopover for immigrants, adventurers and local residents traveling the Old San Antonio Road across pioneer Texas.
The park offers a range of campsites, including full hookups for recreational vehicles. The park also has group facilities, and you can rent the Mission San Francisco de los Tejas representation for weddings and other activities.
History
Mission Tejas State Park is a 660-acre park in Houston County, 22 miles northeast of Crockett. The park was constructed in 1935 and acquired in 1957 by legislative act from the Texas Forest Service, at which time it was opened to the public.
The park was built in 1934 by Company 888 of the Civilian Conservation Corps as a commemorative representation of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas, the first Spanish mission in the province of Texas, which was established in 1690.
Also in the park is the restored Rice Family Log Home, built in 1828 and restored in 1974. The home, which Joseph Redmund Rice, Sr. constructed between 1828 and 1838, is one of the oldest structures in the area. The home served as a stopover for immigrants, adventurers and local residents traveling the Old San Antonio Road across pioneer Texas."
For more on the CCC Camps of Texas, see: (
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This park was built by Camp 888, known as the Weches Camp, which is also memorialized with a historical marker near the park that reads as follows:
"WECHES CCC CAMP
Weches Camp P-58-T was established by the Federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in June 19, 1933. Manned by company 888, the Weches camp was the first CCC camp established in Houston County. It contained barracks, a mess hall, recreation area, post office and medical infirmary. Camp enrollees helped restore and develop the Davy Crockett National Forest and the Historic 118-acre San Francisco Mission State Forest. They planted trees, built roads, developed park facilities and erected log structures and fire observation towers. The camp closed in November 1935."
A sign about Camp 888 itself is located at the recreated Mission chapel and reads:
"PATH OF REDEMPTION
CCC enrolees reclaimed the impoverished land, and in doing so secure a future for themselves
Building New Lives
for poor and unemployed men struggling during the Great Depression, the civilian conservation Corps, or CCC, offered rare hope for a brighter future. The enrollees complied with military discipline imposed at the camps and followed their leaders on-the-job instructions. They worked hard, completed projects, receive decent clothing food and shelter, and education, and even learning skills that they parlayed into their future lives in many cases, it was just the break they needed.
Lacking sophisticated equipment, CCC enrollees had only simple hand tools to perform their tasks.
The position of company 888's African-American enrollees conveys the policy and practice of segregation that persisted even in government programs originally designed to be integrated.
Reclaiming the Land
Company 888 of the CCC formed in June 1933 is one of many units dispatch nationwide to stem the tide of eroding soils and disappearing forests. Under the direction of both the US Forest Service and the Texas Forest Service, the men built roads, suppressed wildfires replanted native trees and constructed this park."