Bennett Spring State Park is a public recreation area located in
Bennett Springs, Missouri
Bennett Spring is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Dallas and Laclede counties, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 130. It lies west of Lebanon on Missouri Route 64. The communi ...
, west of
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
on
Highway 64 in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
and
Laclede counties. It is centered on the spring that flows into the
Niangua River
The Niangua River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Osage River in the Ozarks region of southern and central Missouri in the United Stat ...
and gives the park its name. The spring averages 100 million gallons (380,000 m
3) of daily flow.
[ The park offers fly fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, and other activities.][
]
History
In 1837, the James Brice family built a mill at the stream and the spring became known as Brice Spring. The town that built up was known as Brice. The family of Peter Bennett soon settled near the spring and started their own mill. Originally, the families were rivals, but they soon intermarried. Both of these mills were eventually destroyed in a flood.
During the Civil War years, another mill was constructed by Peter Bennett. This Bennett Mill was larger and more successful than the Brice mill. The spring soon took on the Bennett name. Peter died in 1882 and his son William Sherman Bennett took over. The Bennett Mill burned in 1895.
The state purchased the spring and some surrounding area in 1924-1925 to create a state park. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made various improvements to the park. The CCC built the dining lodge, cabins, trails, roads, shelters, gauge station, and the arched stone bridge across the spring branch.[ The bridge has 3 distinctive sideways “C’s” to memorialize the men of the CCC who built it. The CCC also channelized the spring branch and constructed the dam just upstream of the stone bridge to make the spring more habitable to the non-native trout. The dam is used to divert water through the fish hatchery and to maintain a constant water level at Bennett Spring to this day.
]
Historic sites
The park includes two resources that were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1985:
* Bennett Spring State Park Hatchery-Lodge Area Historic District: The district encompasses six contributing buildings and two contributing structures erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1933 and 1938. They include two concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
and stone arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
s, barn, storage building, custodian's residence, Old Officers Quarters ("Hotel"), restroom, and dining lodge.
Activities and amenities
The park offers trout fishing for rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
and brown trout in the natural spring that is the namesake of the park. The fishing area is divided into three zones, each with its own set of regulations.[ During the regular season, fish may be caught and kept. ]Catch and release
Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returned ...
regulations are in effect during the winter months. Daily fishing begins and ends with a whistle or siren. The opening march of the angler can sometimes resemble a Civil War–style battle line as the anglers progress into the water with rod in hand.
The park also offers of hiking trails, canoeing on the Niangua River, camping, cabins, nature center, dining lodge, and park store.[
]
References
External links
Bennett Spring State Park
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Bennett Spring State Park Map
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
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Protected areas of Dallas County, Missouri
Protected areas of Laclede County, Missouri
State parks of Missouri
State parks of the U.S. Interior Highlands
Protected areas established in 1924
Civilian Conservation Corps in Missouri
Nature centers in Missouri
National Register of Historic Places in Dallas County, Missouri
National Register of Historic Places in Laclede County, Missouri
Buildings and structures in Dallas County, Missouri
Buildings and structures in Laclede County, Missouri
Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
Bodies of water of Dallas County, Missouri
Bodies of water of Laclede County, Missouri
Springs of Missouri
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
1924 establishments in Missouri