A Sad Legacy

On a recent vacation in New Mexico, I went into Harding County, which I spoke of on my other blog "Ramblings From The Rim." This is the county in the northeastern part of that state that was severely depopulated by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and to this day has never recovered from that traumatic period of American History. I will have more to say on Harding County in the near future, but for now, I want to concentrate on a specific part of that beautiful, but mostly deserted county. I have about 10 pictures that I took of this place and I will post them on this blog as soon as someone shows me how(The photo on this blog was put there originally by the person who set up two of my three blogs. This specific blog I set up on my own, and the photo transferred from the other two blogs when I set it up).
For about the past dozen years, I had noticed that a state park on the high plains of northeastern New Mexico had suddenly disappeared from the map. I know of several other former state parks in other states that are no longer state parks for variuos reasons, usually budget cuts. Because of budget cuts the state either gave the state park to a county and it now serves as a county park, sold the park to a private individual or company and it is now a privately owned campground or, in some cases, the state park is now part of a national park or national forest. Examples of a state park that is now a county park are Tips Park near Three Rivers, Texas; Wolf Creek Lake Park near Perryton, Texas and Painted Rocks County Park near Gila Bend, Arizona. An example of a former state park that is now a privately owned campground is Harry McAdams Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. A former state park that is now a city-owned park is Red Rock Park in Gallup, New Mexico. Examples of 2 state parks that are now Bureau of Land Management Campgrounds are Valley of Fires Park near Carrizozo, New Mexico and Newspaper Rock Campground near Monticello, Utah. An example of another former state park that is now federally-owned is Optima National Wildlife Refuge near Hardesty, Oklahoma. This wildlife refuge was once Optima Lake State Park. One last example is the Kaibab Lake Campground in Kaibab National Forest near Williams, Arizona. This was once a state park.
Well, on my recent trip to Harding County, New Mexico, I found another former state park and was shocked by what I saw! I still have a vivid picture of this place in my mind because it had such a profound effect on me.