Salmon Lake Park: Bluegrass and Memories Page: 4 of 5
This text is part of the collection entitled: Randy Mallory Papers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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An old dairy barn, peanut thrasher, and syrup mill recollect hard
work...and rich rewards. Then there's a former coffin shop from the Teens and a
horse trough from the Twenties, both used in Grapeland, and the schoolhouse
Floyd attended in the Forties, now a meeting room. Floyd moved in several
houses from a coal mine, as well as an old dental office, a railroad section house,
the post office from the ghost town of Augusta, and a late 1800s dog-trot home
from Palestine, now Salmon Switch's "hotel."
Fourteen of the refurbished old buildings provide lodging for festival-
goers and year-round visitors. Others serve as recreational halls, concession
stand, and meeting rooms for reunions, weddings, and parties. All told, the
Salmons can accommodate up to 67 people overnight, plus spaces for as many as
400 RV's and primitive campers. The park even features a 1,700-foot airstrip.
RV clubs flock to the park in the spring and fall when the woods come
alive with color. Summers bring reunions and watersports galore on Salmon
Lake, which now sports sandy beaches, fishing piers, a swimming platform, and
an elevated diving board.
But when Labor Day rolls around at Salmon Lake Park, thoughts turn to
one thing: bluegrass.
"Our first festival brought in 250 people, now we get over 3,000 a year,"
Fannie reports. "Everybody said this would be a good place for a festival and
that bluegrass people were really good guests," adds Floyd, who grew up
listening on the radio to the music of the late Bill Monroe, the recognized father
of bluegrass. "They were right. These are the kind of people we like. They really
are like family."
As pickers and grinners relax surrounded by nostalgia, toe-tapping to
their beloved music, they'll agree in a heartbeat: Bluegrass and memories-- now
that's a tradition worth keeping!
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Mallory, Randy. Salmon Lake Park: Bluegrass and Memories, text, 1997-08~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1924276/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.