LAKE LIVINGSTON STATE PARK
Fishermen in boat in silhouette at sunset.The Trinity River and the surrounding valley have been home to a variety of cultures for centuries. Humans have long known about the valleys abundant natural resources.
TPWD opened Lake Livingston State Park in 1977. The park is located on 635 acres along the southeastern edge of Lake Livingston in Polk County.
Lake Livingston is one of the largest reservoirs in the state, with 83,000 surface acres. The lake is an impoundment of the Trinity River, and provides water for the city of Houston and other East Texas cities. It is ideal for boating and fishing because of its size and constant level.
Lake Livingston State Park lies on the southern edge of the East Texas Timber Belt. Trees at Lake LivingstonHere the gently rolling sandy soils of the timber belt meet the nearly-level clay lowlands of the Post Oak Savanna.
Nearly 50 inches of rain falls annually in this area. Mild temperatures average 51 degrees in the winter and 81 degrees in the summer. Highs in the summer sometimes reach 100 degrees. But dont worry you can cool off in Lake Livingston
The first humans here were hunter-gatherers, or Paleo-Indians. Signs of these people date back 12,000 years.
Pottery found at sites dated to about 2,200 years ago suggests that these early people were cultivating beans, corn and squash. Instead of constantly roaming, they had begun settling down.
When the Spanish and French began exploring East Texas in the early 16th century, native Atakapan-speaking peoples lived here. These included the Orcoquisacs, Bidais and Deadose.
As American settlers pushed west, diseases killed many of the local native people.
To repopulate the area, the Spanish encouraged Native American groups from the southeastern United States to move here by offering them land. The Spanish thought this would deter French and American settlers. Among these immigrants were the Alabama and Coushatta tribes, who live on tribal lands in the area today.
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