Mother Neff State Park

Pat Neff was born in Coryell County in 1871 and made his name as a prosecutor, trying 422 defendants as McLennan County attorney and losing only sixteen cases. As governor from 1921 to 1925 he cut the number of pardons sharply and twice declared martial law, at Mexia in 1922 and in Denison during a railroad shopmen's strike. Critics faulted him for not taking a strong stand against the Ku Klux Klan. He counted the state park system among his most important achievements. He later led Baylor University from 1932 to 1947.

What the plaque says

Mother Neff State Park First official state park in Texas; suggested the idea for the State Parks system. Originated with a 6-acre plot willed to Texas in 1916 by Mrs. Isabella E. Neff, mother of Pat M. Neff, Governor of Texas (1921-1925) Because Texas then had no state parks, Mrs. Neff stated the land was to be used for religious, fraternal, political, and educational activities. Seeing the need for more such areas, in 1923, the 39th Legislature created the State Parks Board. In 1934 Pat Neff deeded 250 acres, and other owners 3 acres, to enlarge the original tract. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mother Neff State Park — 1.3 mi
  A Leon River park that grew from six acres Isabella Neff left the state in her 1921 will, where Civilian Conservation Corps Company 817 built a stone tower, a pavilion and roads in the 1930s.
• Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum — 17 mi
  The Santa Fe depot of 1911 in a railroad town that began in 1880 as a construction camp, now a museum with locomotives and cars parked beside the active rail yard.
• Armstrong Browning Library — 26 mi
  A three-story Italian Renaissance library on the Baylor campus built to hold A. J. Armstrong's Browning collection, dedicated in December 1951 and now, by its own account, the world's largest of Browning material.
• Dr Pepper Museum — 26 mi
  The 1906 bottling plant of the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, built where Dr Pepper outgrew a Waco drugstore soda fountain, now the Dr Pepper Museum.

More markers nearby

• Moody-Leon United Methodist Church — 2.1 mi
• Eagle Springs Baptist Church — 2.5 mi
• Moody — 6.4 mi
• First Baptist Church of Moody — 6.5 mi