Last updated: August 30, 2024
Place
Twin Lakes State Park
Photograph courtesy of Virginia State Parks under Creative Commons 2.0.
Quick Facts
Location:
Green Bay, Virginia
Significance:
Ethnic Heritage/African-American, Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation, Landscape Architecture
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference Number 12000906
MANAGED BY:
Twin Lakes State Park located in Prince Edward County, Virginia is composed of two historic facilities, the Goodwin Lake Recreational Area and the Prince Edward State Park. These recreational locations were two of four Recreational Development Areas (RDAs) developed in Virginia during the Great Depression by New Deal organizations including the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA).
RDAs were established during President Franklin Roosevelt's tenure in addition to the new state parks. These facilities were the brainchild of Roosevelt's Land Planning Committee and the National Park Service. Both agencies agreed that one of the most pressing needs in many urban areas were large natural areas to provide recreational outlets for people, particularly those of lower and middle incomes. Unlike the state parks, the emphasis of the RDAs was on large group recreational activities, rather than family outings or day trips. Lodges and cabins that could accommodate groups of campers for extended periods were constructed and used by civic or welfare organizations that provided recreation for disadvantaged children.
Between 1933 and 1948, four RDAs—Bear Creek Lake, Holliday Lake, Goodwin Lake, and Prince Edward Lake—were developed by the Forest Service and built by the WPA and CCC. The design of the four Virginia RDAs was in large part influenced by the conservation guidelines, aesthetics, and planning processes developed by the National Park Service for use in the National Parks and later in Virginia state parks.
Much of the land that includes Twin Lakes State Park was originally farmland and forest donated to the government by two benefactors. In 1919, Emmett Dandridge Gallion, a former resident of Prince Edward County and employee of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C, bequeathed all of his property to the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was Gallion's wish that the several thousand acres be used as a forestry reservation, to be managed by the State Forestry Commission. During the early years of the Great Depression, the state began expanding the forest area by purchasing land under the Resettlement Administration Program. A CCC camp known as Camp Gallion was established in June 1933. The camp served as the headquarters for the 1390th CCC Company, one of the few Black CCC groups in the state. In 1937, Thomas Milton Goodwin sold land to the state of Virginia to be incorporated into the then-expanding Gallion State Forest.
Although the primary duty of the CCC workers was to build fire trails, the 1390th Company was credited with a number of other construction projects, including the construction of five 100-foot fire lookout towers, thirty-three bridges, and the two dams that created Goodwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake recreational areas. In keeping with the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of "separate but equal," Goodwin Lake Recreational Area was open only to whites; Prince Edward Lake Recreational Area was provided for use by Black people and was the only such facility available to Black individuals in all of Virginia.
In 1948, Danville banker M. Conrad Martin filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia's practice of maintaining state parks only for whites after he was denied admission to Staunton River State Park. In order to keep with the “separatee but equal” clause, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Development upgraded the Prince Edward Lake RDA and designated it a full-fledged state park in 1949. In January of that year, Govern William Tuck wrote a special appropriation totaling $195,000 for development at the park. The newly named Prince Edward State Park for Negroes received enhanced facilities, such as six concrete block cabins, a pump house, bath house, staff dwellings, and maintenance complex, and an expansion of its boundaries.
Edgar Latham, formerly a lifeguard at the Prince Edward Lake RDA was appointed as superintendent in 1950, becoming the first Black superintendent in the history of Virginia state parks. In 1960, Herbert N. Doswell, another former employee of the Prince Edward Lake Recreational Area, succeeded Mr. Latham, becoming the second Black person to assume the title of superintendent of a Virginia state park. Under his supervision, the park enjoyed tremendous growth. Although the park was never formally advertised in papers or magazines, word-of-mouth of the park's facilities and staff drew Black families from throughout Virginia and North Carolina. By 1966, Prince Edward State Park was drawing as many as 4,000 people a day. Special activities for the Fourth of July and weekly Saturday night dances drew not only visitors, but local residents as well.
Virginia's state parks finally began desegregating after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended formal and legal segregation. Full integration and equal access to public accommodations gradually became the norm in Virginia. Goodwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake continued to be operated as separate facilities until 1976, when they were merged administratively into a single operation. A new name, Twin Lakes State Park, came in 1986. The current Cedar Crest Conference Center situated near Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes State Park occupies the former locus of the Prince Edward State Park for Negroes.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.
Photo Credit Link: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/twin-lakes#general_information
RDAs were established during President Franklin Roosevelt's tenure in addition to the new state parks. These facilities were the brainchild of Roosevelt's Land Planning Committee and the National Park Service. Both agencies agreed that one of the most pressing needs in many urban areas were large natural areas to provide recreational outlets for people, particularly those of lower and middle incomes. Unlike the state parks, the emphasis of the RDAs was on large group recreational activities, rather than family outings or day trips. Lodges and cabins that could accommodate groups of campers for extended periods were constructed and used by civic or welfare organizations that provided recreation for disadvantaged children.
Between 1933 and 1948, four RDAs—Bear Creek Lake, Holliday Lake, Goodwin Lake, and Prince Edward Lake—were developed by the Forest Service and built by the WPA and CCC. The design of the four Virginia RDAs was in large part influenced by the conservation guidelines, aesthetics, and planning processes developed by the National Park Service for use in the National Parks and later in Virginia state parks.
Much of the land that includes Twin Lakes State Park was originally farmland and forest donated to the government by two benefactors. In 1919, Emmett Dandridge Gallion, a former resident of Prince Edward County and employee of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C, bequeathed all of his property to the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was Gallion's wish that the several thousand acres be used as a forestry reservation, to be managed by the State Forestry Commission. During the early years of the Great Depression, the state began expanding the forest area by purchasing land under the Resettlement Administration Program. A CCC camp known as Camp Gallion was established in June 1933. The camp served as the headquarters for the 1390th CCC Company, one of the few Black CCC groups in the state. In 1937, Thomas Milton Goodwin sold land to the state of Virginia to be incorporated into the then-expanding Gallion State Forest.
Although the primary duty of the CCC workers was to build fire trails, the 1390th Company was credited with a number of other construction projects, including the construction of five 100-foot fire lookout towers, thirty-three bridges, and the two dams that created Goodwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake recreational areas. In keeping with the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of "separate but equal," Goodwin Lake Recreational Area was open only to whites; Prince Edward Lake Recreational Area was provided for use by Black people and was the only such facility available to Black individuals in all of Virginia.
In 1948, Danville banker M. Conrad Martin filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia's practice of maintaining state parks only for whites after he was denied admission to Staunton River State Park. In order to keep with the “separatee but equal” clause, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Development upgraded the Prince Edward Lake RDA and designated it a full-fledged state park in 1949. In January of that year, Govern William Tuck wrote a special appropriation totaling $195,000 for development at the park. The newly named Prince Edward State Park for Negroes received enhanced facilities, such as six concrete block cabins, a pump house, bath house, staff dwellings, and maintenance complex, and an expansion of its boundaries.
Edgar Latham, formerly a lifeguard at the Prince Edward Lake RDA was appointed as superintendent in 1950, becoming the first Black superintendent in the history of Virginia state parks. In 1960, Herbert N. Doswell, another former employee of the Prince Edward Lake Recreational Area, succeeded Mr. Latham, becoming the second Black person to assume the title of superintendent of a Virginia state park. Under his supervision, the park enjoyed tremendous growth. Although the park was never formally advertised in papers or magazines, word-of-mouth of the park's facilities and staff drew Black families from throughout Virginia and North Carolina. By 1966, Prince Edward State Park was drawing as many as 4,000 people a day. Special activities for the Fourth of July and weekly Saturday night dances drew not only visitors, but local residents as well.
Virginia's state parks finally began desegregating after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended formal and legal segregation. Full integration and equal access to public accommodations gradually became the norm in Virginia. Goodwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake continued to be operated as separate facilities until 1976, when they were merged administratively into a single operation. A new name, Twin Lakes State Park, came in 1986. The current Cedar Crest Conference Center situated near Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes State Park occupies the former locus of the Prince Edward State Park for Negroes.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.
Photo Credit Link: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/twin-lakes#general_information