OREGON'S HIGHWAY PARK SYSTEM: 1921-1989 An Administrative History

Until recently, the only comprehensive history of Oregon State Parks was the one compiled by Parks Superintendent Chester H. Armstrong to cover the period 1917 to 1963. In the years that have passed since that valuable reference work was published by the State Highway Department, fundamental changes in the way the state parks system is financed and administered have occurred. The land base has changed perceptibly too. Significant recreation areas have been added, while at the same time a number of holdings were absorbed in highway construction or transferred to local jurisdictions. Recent events provided an opportune moment to bring the record up to date. The present effort was undertaken to complement Mr. Armstrong's A History of the Oregon State Parks, primarily for the benefit of park system employees and students of park and outdoor recreation development in the United States. It is hoped, also, that Oregon's Highway Park System will be of interest and use to friends and supporters of Oregon State Parks everywhere.

The State Parks and Recreation agency was a branch of the Highway Division until it was established as a separate division of the Department of Transportation by the Legislature in 1979. The agency's administrative ties to the Oregon Department of Transportation reach back to before 1929, the year in which a State Parks engineer was designated by the State Highway Commission.

It will be seen in the following discussion how the state parks system was shaped by its connection with Oregon highways. Built upon a framework of roadside rest areas and scenic corridor preserves, the system served the road user first and foremost. However, in 1980, at the height of an oil shortage leading to recession, Oregon voters approved a ballot measure prohibiting use of gas tax revenue for maintenance and operation of parks. The Parks and Recreation Division became one of the many agencies dependent upon legislative allocations from the state's General Fund. Finally, a bill to create a separate Parks Department was passed by the 1989 Legislature and became effective January 1, 1990. After 60 years of control, first by the Highway Commission and more recently by the Transportation Commission, the agency was to be governed by a wholly independent Parks and Recreation Commission.

This administrative history begins with an overview of the parks system from 1921 through the pivotal year of 1989. Next follows Director David Talbot's review of significant developments during his years of service with the agency, beginning in 1962. While it proved impractical to cover the history of each separate park in detail, a directory of current park holdings with essential information and some related stories is appended with full understanding that many pertinent tales and contributions are omitted for lack of space. For quick reference, a summary list of key events in the agency's history is provided, as is a brief discussion of the sources for research on the subject of state parks. Finally, it may be said that only a limited attempt has been made here to interpret the meaning of the Oregon State Parks story. More simply, this is the account of a park system that was created as the state highway network developed, and it shows how the system grew and evolved under auspices of the Highway and Transportation commissions from 1921 onward.