posted on September 03, 2010 01:03
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a plan on Thursday to purchase a 113.5-acre tract of ranch land to extend the size of Garner State Park.
The land is contiguous to the southern boundary of the state park, which is located west of San Antonio in Uvalde County.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is negotiating a contract to buy the land from John and Taylor Cummings, whose father Jack grew up on the ranch and helped develop Garner State Park. His sons later inherited the property from their aunt, who originally acquired the property back in the 1930s.
Once the purchase closes, the state plans to combine it with its recently acquired Old Baldy tract of land to increase the size of the park. Garner State Park will soon encompass more than 1,600 acres. The newly acquired ranch land will be used for camping and hiking.
Taylor Cummings, who retired to the ranch and still lives there, will live on the remaining 100-plus acres of ranch not included in the sale.
Garner State Park is Texas’ No. 1 park for overnight camping. The park has about 330,000 visits per year and it is open seven days a week.
August 26th, 2010 | San Antonio Business Journal