Cooper Lake State Park is a Texas State Park in

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

and

Hopkins Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...

counties, about three miles (5 km) south of

Cooper, Texas Cooper is a city in and the county seat of Delta County, in the U.S. state of Texas. Located between the north and south forks of the Sulphur River, Cooper is the largest settlement in Delta County. As of the 2020 United States census, the city ...

. The park is situated on

Jim Chapman Lake Jim Chapman Lake (also known as Cooper Lake) is a impoundment operated by the Army Corps of Engineers and is located east of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in the state of Texas. The reservoir was created by the 1991 Jim Chapman Dam and imp ...

, formerly known as Cooper Lake. There are actually two geographically separate units; the Doctors Creek unit is located on the north side of the lake, in Delta County, while the South Sulphur unit is located on the south side of the lake, in Hopkins County.

History

The park's land was inhabited by

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

people until the 1800s, when settlers brought the agriculture (including cotton and dairy) and livestock industries to the area. Cooper Lake itself was built between 1986 and 1991, by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Nature

The park lies at the intersection of the

Tallgrass Prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroach ...

and Post Oak Savannah ecoregions. There is a diverse variety of mammals (including the

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littora ...

and

nine-banded armadillo The nine-banded armadillo (''Dasypus novemcinctus''), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. It ...

) and birds in the park, and multiple species of catfish, crappie, and bass in the lake.

References

External links

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Lakes of Texas State parks of Texas Protected areas of Delta County, Texas Protected areas of Hopkins County, Texas Bodies of water of Delta County, Texas Bodies of water of Hopkins County, Texas {{Texas-protected-area-stub