Bear Creek Pioneers Park is a park located in the U.S. city of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

at 3535 War Memorial Drive. It is sometimes called "Harris County Bear Creek Park", or simply "Bear Creek Park."

History

Between 1946 and 1948, the

Addicks Reservoir The Addicks Reservoir and Addicks Dam in conjunction with the Barker Reservoir prevent downstream flooding of Buffalo Bayou in the City of Houston, Texas. Both reservoirs were authorized under the Rivers and Harbors Act of June 20, 1938, which ...

was constructed by the

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

to prevent a repetition of the sort of disastrous flooding that Houston experienced in 1935.The Great Houston Flood of 1935
/ref> Bear Creek Pioneers Park occupies a portion of this reservoir. The park land had previously been occupied since the 1840s by mostly German immigrant farmers and their descendants. Harris County leased of the reservoir in 1965 and began to develop the park.

Park Description

The park is in size and has paved roads and parking spaces that visitors can use. The park also has walking trails, an equestrian trail, a small zoo (including buffaloes, an ostrich, and emus) and aviary, playgrounds, soccer fields, little league and softball fields, four lighted tennis courts, eight picnic pavilions, horseshoe courts, and hundreds of picnic tables and grills. Near the aviary ducks can be seen walking freely around a pond. The park also has restrooms all around the park and drinking water fountains. The park is open all week from 7:00 am until 10:00 pm (local time). There is no cost to enter the park but pavilions must be reserved before use. Picnic tables and grills do not need to be reserved. The park has no stores and visitors must bring their own food if they plan on eating or drinking.

Origin of park name

Bear Creek Pioneers Park gets its name from one of the creeks (i.e., Bear Creek) that flow through the area. Actually, Langham Creek virtually bisects the entire park. Originally spelled "Behr" Creek due to the German immigrants whom initially settled the area in the 19th Century, the name became Anglicized to "Bear Creek" as the English-speaking influence became more prevalent.

Harris County War Memorial

The Harris County War Memorial is found in this park, next to the Eldridge Parkway entrance. The Memorial was built in 1985 to honor known residents who lost their lives in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the wars ever since. Memorial services are held at the War Memorial every

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

at 2:00 p.m.

Wildlife habitat

The wildlife habitat located in the park consists of a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

and

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

pond, an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages. Avi ...

, and exhibits for various animals including birds of prey,

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...

s, bison,

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

s, pot bellied pigs,

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, donkeys,

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

, and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

References

External links

{{Zoos of Texas Parks in Houston Protected areas of Harris County, Texas