Walnut Grove: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickasaw National Recreation Area - Travertine District, National Park Service

NPS Intermountain Regional Office; Hohmann, Heidi; Grala, Katazyna

Walnut Grove is located in the western half of the Platt Historic District, in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Murray County, Oklahoma. It is situated just west of Black Sulphur Springs, along the north side of the park’s perimeter road. The landscape is 24.7 acres in size and the area is primarily a grassy picnic area. To the north and west, a wooded hillside leads up to a residential part of the town of Sulphur. Access to the area is provided from a few parking areas that are located along the perimeter road. Walnut Grove is presently used mostly for picnicking, and an open lawn area is occasionally used for volleyball, Frisbee, horseshoes, and other activities such as children’s games and an annual Easter egg hunt. The area is used by families and small to large groups. Groups are attracted to the area because of the open play area, good shade in the hot summers, as well as numerous picnic tables and upright grills. A modern comfort station is also located conveniently nearby the picnic areas. Historically, the area was the site of the camp for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp 808 from 1934‑1940. Few elements remain from this use of the site. They include four open stone fireplaces and remnants of a tennis court. The Platt Historic District is significant for its association with the development of National Park landscapes completed during the depression and funded as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal” programs.The district isalso significant as embodying the characteristics of the type, period, and methods of construction typical of the “rustic style” of park design developed by the National Park Service in the years between World War I and World War II (1916‑1942) under the leadership of Thomas Vint. In general terms, “rustic” park design limited development to preserve natural scenery and designed buildings and structures in keeping and in harmony with the natural landscape. This meant using hand craftsmanship, local architectural styles and natural materials such as stone, wood and native plants in the design of each park structure or element. The Platt Historic District exemplifies all of these aspects of National Park Service development, planning and design. Most of the district’s extant features were constructed between circa 1930 and 1940 during the depression years under the New Deal. Most of the park’s construction was undertaken by Company 808 of the CCC, one of the largest CCC camps in Oklahoma. The park’s architecture and landscape design also exhibit classic “rustic” style design characteristics. The buildings and landscape features constructed in the park by Company 808 of the CCC are made of local stone and wood, emphasize the horizontal lines of the landscape, and merge with their surroundings in color, scale, and appearance. Walnut Grove is specifically associated with the design and construction of Platt National Park as the site where CCC construction crews actually lived from 1934‑1940 while they were constructing the other features of the park. Though few of the elements and features present on the site during the CCC camp’s tenure are extant today, the site is still strongly associated with their presence. A few remnants of this era do remain, and include three fireplaces and a tennis court. It should, of course, be noted that the designed elements of the camp were never meant to be permanent features. Rather, the camp facilities were meant to be temporary, lasting only until the CCC crews were finished with their projects. The site of the CCC camp was intended to be redeveloped, and the existing conditions of the area as a picnic grounds reflects that intention. Thus Walnut Grove contributes to the significance of the overall district in a predominantly associative manner. However, these associations with the actual men who built the park, and their tenure for 7 years on this site, greatly aid in conveying the whole district’s significance.

Walnut Grove: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chickasaw National Recreation Area - Travertine District, National Park Service

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