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Max
Starcke Park
Photo courtesy Chandra Moira Beal |
MAX STARCKE
PARK
Business 183
Seguin, Texas
This
glorious municipal park, operated by the City of Seguin,
is beautiful and rich with the area's history. Built by the National
Youth Administration in 1937 on the banks of the Guadalupe River,
this large park has small rolling hills which are grassy and densely
shaded by the most pecan trees you have ever seen. Other attractions
include standard and miniature golf courses, playgrounds, picnic areas,
volleyball, and basketball. The vegetation is lush with vines and
caladiums along the riverbanks. Numerous picnic tables can be found
right on the banks and throughout the park. Small motorized boats
operate upstream.
The best swimming can be found behind Saffold Dam. A series
of steps lead down to a concrete dock. It is recessed enough to offer
privacy from the rest of the park. The river here is glassy, green
and calm. Lap swimmers can journey back and forth in the rectangular
space between the shores, which is quite deep. You may also dive from
the dock.
Saffold Dam is named for William Saffold who owned the park land in
the mid-1800s. Saffold Dam was originally a natural rock outcropping,
which was typical of dams built in the late nineteenth century. The
dam was first improved by Henry Troell in the late 1800s when
he added more rock to it to raise the water level and power a cotton
gin. Troell was a native of Germany who immigrated to Seguin
sometime prior to 1860. He served in the Confederate Army and married
Johanna Wohler in 1872. A successful freighting business enabled him
to invest in several local properties and enterprises, including the
Saffold Dam and gristmill. He expanded the hydroelectrical capabilities
of the dam and in 1890 provided the City of Seguin
with its first water and electrical utility system. The City of Seguin
bought Troell's property in 1907 to further develop hydroelectricity,
and subsequent improvements have led to the establishment of a hydroelectric
plant on the south side of the river.
See Seguin,
Texas
More on Guadalupe River
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