• Little Niagra

    Chickasaw

    National Recreation Area Oklahoma

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  • Warning to Boaters

    Chickasaw National Recreation area is warning all boat users to be cautious while boating on Lake of the Arbuckles due to low water levels in the lake. More »

Places

Historic view of the Lake Placid area on Travertine Creek
Lake Placid on Travertine Creek, early Twentieth Century view.
NPS/Chickasaw National Recreation Area
 

The historic places of Chickasaw National Recreation Area are centered around the former Platt National Park, today's Platt Historic District. Here, a small scale and landscape design here that provided what all national park visitors wanted: escape, relaxation, refreshment.

The living legacy of Platt National Park is the found in the landscape of the present-day Platt Historic District. The boundaries of the Platt Historic District coincide, with a few minor exceptions, with the historical boundaries of the former Platt National Park, which existed from 1906 until 1976, when it was combined with the Arbuckle Recreation Area to form the present-day park.

The roads, trails, and structures found in the historic district all have stories to tell about the earlier era of the park, and of how the park has evolved in the last century.

The following pages provide a brief exploration of some of the historic places within Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

  • The Lincoln Bridge The Lincoln Bridge

    Learn more about this early park structure Read More

  • Remembering Platt National Park Remembering Platt National Park

    Learn more about the story of the former Platt National Park Read More

Did You Know?

Park Ranger on horseback, 1910

In 1904 Forest Townsley was appointed the first park ranger in Platt National Park [the Platt Historic District in today's Chickasaw National Recreation Area].  Townsley's son John later served as Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park from 1975 to 1982. More...