Goliad State Park Historic District
a.k.a. Goliad State Historical Park; Memorial Aditorium
US 183 at San Antonio River, Goliad, TXGoliad State Park, initiated in 1931 upon land donated to the state by Goliad city and county, ultimately hosted one of the premier New Deal commemorative developments for the 1936 Texas Centennial of independence from Mexico. With the brilliant and persistent initiative, Goliad County Judge James Arthur White arranged between 1931 and 1941 this district's land acquisition and donation, highway construction and embellishments, Auditorium erection, Fannin Monument placement, Spanish mission reconstruction, and establishment of a surrounding recreation park. Assisted by an outstanding group of archeologists, architects, engineers and other specialists, the National Park Service (NPS) directed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor between 1935 and 1941 during most of the park's development. Other New Deal federal bureaus and state agencies contributed to Goliad State Park's 10-year evolution and operation through 1949. Recent additions to the state park and proximity to the reconstructed Presidio La Bahia National Historic Landmark (1967) continued the interpretive themes here of Spanish settlement, and cultural transition through immigration and revolution to the modern State of Texas. The resulting Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register at a State level of significance as both a premier example of CCC state park development and one of a handful of major commemorative projects for the 1936 Centennial under Criterion A in the area of Entertainment/Recreation and Criterion C in the area of Architecture.
The unusual nature of this Historic District's reconstruction and commemorative properties meet the application of Criteria Consideration E, for the reconstructed Mission Espiritu Santo (NR 1977 as an archeological site), and Criteria Consideration F for the substantial Fannin Monument commemorative structure.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.