History of Oakdale Park

Oakdale Park
1019 NE Barnard St. P.O. Box 548 Glen Rose, Texas 76043 254-897-2321

History of Oakdale Park

Long before there were cars, people would come to what is now Oakdale Park in covered wagons and camp by the flowing wells for a few days or weeks. They would bring their chickens in a coop; some would lead their cow. Thus, the family members would have eggs, milk, and butter during their camping trip. There were four flowing wells that not only provided them with water to drink and a bath, but a place to keep their milk and butter cool. Soon a big tabernacle was built on the west end, and the churches would hold debates and revivals. Every Sunday, there would be preaching and singing and dinner on the grounds.

In 1925, H.J. Cox bought the land from the Martin family and opened Oakdale Park. He dug the swimming pool with a team of mules. It holds 310,000 gallons of water and was filled by a flowing sulfur well. The filtering system was installed in 1928 at a cost of $2500.00. Admission into the pool was 25 cents a day, and a wool bathing suit could be rented for 15 cents, with towel rental being 10 cents. The pool was named "Oakdale Plunge" and that name is still painted on the bath house today.

For the first year, the pool did not have a fence around it. Some local kids, especially those who did not have the 25 cents to pay to swim, would wait until night, then go swimming. Soon, Mr. Cox put the tall chain link fence around the pool to keep out his "night-time" swimmers. Through the years, the pool has had tall diving platforms and slides. At one time, movies were shown on a large screen placed on the bath house roof. A favorite for many years was a barrel attached to the bottom of the pool. Kids and adults would ride on the barrel as if riding a bronc.

The bath house and the building at the front of the park were built in 1925 also. The bath house had a women's and a men's dressing area and a park office.

The building at the front of the park was known as the "Casino." It had a small stage inside where a band played every Saturday night for a dance. People from miles around would come to dance. In the early 1940s, Mr. Cox put a maple floor in the Old Casino and turned it into a skating rink. At about that time he marked off 25' lots along the north side of the park and sold them to people from Ft. Worth and Dallas, who built the little rock cottages for their summer 'hide-aways."

Mr. Cox also built some small cottages. They were little screened cabins with roll-up curtains. From those early days, families began to come to Oakdale Park for their family reunions each summer.

After Mr. Cox passed away, Mrs. Cox and their son, H.J. Jr., operated Oakdale for two years, then sold it to James Thomas. He operated the park for eleven years, and in 1963, there was a foreclosure and the lien holder bought it in. The City of Glen Rose operated the park for two weeks and had begun to clean the park. Oakdale was then purchased by Whimp and Pete May on June 15, 1963.

Whimp and Pete May and their family still own the park today. They have been able to buy back the cabins that Mr. Cox sold off, they have added RV hookups for campers and motorhomes, have replaced the pool's filtering system two times, and have met many, many wonderful people during their 40+ years at Oakdale Park.

Note: If any of you have memories or history of Oakdale to share, I would love for you to email me. Also, if anyone has any old pictures taken in Oakdale Park, I would love to see them. E-mail Pete.