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In 1914, Lizzie Batey Ledbetter Wilson deeded twenty-five acres to the City of Cameron, relating in her deed “her consideration of the love and affection for the people of Milam County and of the City of Cameron and her desire to provide for them and their children, for all time to come, a play-ground.” Lizzie was born in Tennessee in 1839 to Isaac and Julia Ledbetter, and in 1853 her family settled six miles east of Cameron. Both her parents died by 1863 from consumption, and Lizzie and her husband, William Wilson, raised her younger siblings as their own children, the first of more than twenty foster children Lizzie raised. After the creation of the park at the height of the city beautiful movement, the city received numerous requests from organizations to use the park for encampments, recreational uses and meetings. The Cameron Herald reported on November 16, 1933 that the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a federal new deal program, would fund improvements at the park and provide work for hundreds of unemployed men. The Herald reported on May 2, 1935 that “when the Texas centennial celebration is held in Texas in 1936, Cameron should have one of the most beautiful parks in the state to contribute to the beauty spots in Texas.” The CWA project included thousands of tons of native petrified wood, sand rock and oak logs to build clubhouses, barbecue pits, bridges, tables and seats, and for erosion control along creeks and a five-acre lake stocked with fish. A cabin was also built for a park caretaker, a position still active in the 1950s. For generations, Lizzie Ledbetter Wilson’s gift to her hometown has provided a center for social and recreational activities and a landscape for unforgettable experiences. |
