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| The Federal
government created the Barker Reservoir in the 1940's to help control
flooding on Buffalo Bayou. The Barker Reservoir covers 13,500
acres. George Bush Park occupies about half of this area. The park was originally called
the Cullen-Barker Park because the Cullen Foundation had contributed money
for the planning. As development of this park and the city's Cullen
Park in the nearby Addicks Reservoir progressed and usage increased, the
similarity of the two names caused confusion. The Cullen Foundation
agreed to the renaming of this
park. Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack proposed the name George
Bush Park and Harris County Commissioners Court approved the name
January 28, 1997. The former president attended the dedication in May,
1997. This is the largest park in Harris County. This area was part of the original Stephen F. Austin Colony. The earliest settlers here were the Wheaton and Habermacher families, in the 1830s. Most of the land was held by absentee owners until Ben Fort Smith started buying it up in the 1880s. |
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| Smith raised cattle on part of his land and divided
the rest of his land into small farms which he sold to Middle Westerners. The
buyers of the farms planted mostly rice and discovered that rice did not
do well here. They were selling their farms to cattle ranchers by
the early 1900s. Ranchers Emil Marks and Bassett Blakely became the
major land owners. Blakely sold out to the Cinco Ranch before the
government started taking the land for the reservoir. Marks
continued to operate his LH7 Ranch on what was left of his land after the
dam and reservoir were built. He was one of the cowmen credited with
saving the Texas Longhorn from extinction. Marks was descended from
pioneer German immigrants. He died in September 1969. The Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad ran trains between Houston and Pattison/Sealy, through what is now George Bush Park, from the 1870s till 1895. George Bush Park features picnic pavilions, restrooms, soccer complexes, baseball fields, a meeting room, fishing lake and a playground designed to be enjoyed by all children, regardless of their physical abilities. There are hiking and equestrian trails and a model airplane field named for Dick Scobee, the commander of the Challenger spacecraft, lost in 1986. A concessionaire operates the American Shooting Center off Westheimer Parkway. The George Bush Park now includes the Millie Bush Dog Park where dogs can be let off their leashes. This dog park, named for the Springer Spaniel that lived in the White House with George and Barbara Bush, is on the south side of Westheimer Parkway, east of South Barker Cypress Road. The dog park includes a parking lot that accommodates 100 vehicles.. |
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