Washington State Park is a public recreation area covering in Washington County in the central eastern part of the state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. It is located on Highway 21 about northeast of Potosi or southwest of DeSoto on the eastern edge of the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant por ...

. The state park is noted for its Native American rock carvings and for its finely crafted stonework from the 1930s.

Stone carvings

The carvings, or

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other description ...

, carved in fixed dolomite rock, are believed to have been made around 1000 to 1600 CE and to give clues to the lives of the prehistoric Native Americans who once inhabited this part of Missouri. It is also believed that the park served as ceremonial grounds for these Middle Mississippi people who were related to the builders of the

Cahokia Mounds The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south-w ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

''Most of the carvings are of birds, arrows, footprints, turkey tracks, human figures, and various geometric shapes and patterns. The three petroglyph sites in the park are thought to be all that is left of a more extensive site. They make up almost 75 percent of the known petroglyphs in Missouri and contain over 350 symbols.''

The petroglyphs 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 artist ...

in 1970 as the Washington State Park Petroglyph Archeological Site. (includes photographs) (includes photographs)

Stone structures

The park was built during the Great Depression of the 1930s by the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

stonemasons Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

of the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...

known as Company 1743. Their efforts left the park with the historical stone structures that still stand today: hiking shelters, picnic pavilions, and the stones that make up the 1,000 Steps Trail.Drew, p. 59. "One can only marvel at the effort it must have taken to shape the limestone blocks and then to place them on the hillside." Fourteen buildings and stone structures are included in the Washington State Park CCC Historic District, a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from ce ...

listed on the

in 1985. (includes photographs)

Activities and amenities

Park activities include camping, fishing, canoeing, hiking, an olympic-sized pool and river swimming in the Big River.

References

External links

Washington State Park
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Washington State Park Map
Missouri Department of Natural Resources {{authority control State parks of Missouri Protected areas of Washington County, Missouri Protected areas established in 1932 Petroglyphs in Missouri Civilian Conservation Corps in Missouri Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Buildings and structures in Washington County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Missouri 1932 establishments in Missouri