A Bit of Background
The town of Cisco was founded in the late 1870’s, but the exact location changed three times. In the early 1900’s it saw a population explosion as a petroleum boomtown. It also saw the birth of the multi-billion-dollar Hilton hotel chain when founder, Conrad Hilton Sr. came to town in 1919 to buy a bank, couldn’t afford it, and bought a hotel instead. It was plagued by water shortages in it’s early days that ended when the Williamson Dam was built in the early ’20’s, creating Cisco Lake. At the base of the dam, a concrete swimming pool was built, which was once touted as the largest in the world. Over the years, the pool was joined by a two-story building with skating rink upstairs, as well as an amusement park, cabins, a picnic area and more. The dam itself is a hollow structure, and the original location of the Cisco Zoo. Various claims on the internet, that I admittedly couldn’t validate via historical records, state that the cavities were later used as jail cells, and even as a morgue at various times. Other oddities of note: on December 23, 1927, a man dressed as Santa Claus and accompanied by elves, robbed the local bank, took two preteen girls hostage, and shot and killed nine people. After the man’s capture, he pretended to be paralyzed for a whole month, but upon his door being left unlocked, he jumped up, got a gun and shot a jailer while trying to escape. A mob of some 2000 people surrounded the jailhouse and lynched him, leaving him hanging from a tree until Santa’s boots stopped kicking. That was the last known public lynching in Texas history.
What Do We Know
What I can validate, via multiple sources, is that the zoo started out under the dam and was completed in 1923. It began with a deer, and then a bear was added. Other animals soon joined them, and all were housed under the dam for the first year. The zoo was later moved to the bluff below the dam and added to the park.
On to the Tour
From the parking area multiple trails snake off in various directions, all of them uphill. While there are cabins at the base of the hill, there is a former road, now the widest trail, that leads in a long arc up to the top of the bluff, where the rest of the cabins sit, none of which are open. Though I believe one at the top is now a private residence.
Like any modern zoo, this one was in some sort of grid that fit with the landscape so trails cut here and there around where animal pens or rides were located.
There was a small “snek” in those dead vines. Pictures of the photogenic little stinker can be found at the bottom of the page.
The first more obvious animal enclosure I encountered along my path.
If you want to eat your lunch in a 100-year-old abandoned zoo, then you’re in luck! Some poor, unfortunate construction workers lugged a couple hundred pounds of steel coated in rubber up the bluff for you. Do the decent thing and bring snacks, so they didn’t sweat in vain, but be sure to clean up after yourself.
I guess these were the remains of an amusement park ride: a rusty steel slide.
The larger enclosures.
A set.
A set of stairs that run from the mid-way path to the top of the bluff.
A cabin.
Needs some TLC.
Well, this one is in significantly better condition.
The bathroom left a bit to be desired, though.
A garage? Fancy.
This cabin has musical accompaniment.
Hmmm… Somebody call a piano doctor. Might need some tuning.
In case you’re curious that says “patented April 25, 1899”.
Back down at the parking lot there is a bench and flagpole, as well as more trails.
The skate rink used to be approximately where that dirt pile is sitting.
The cabins I mentioned much earlier.
Below the parking area are more picnic tables, and whatever that used to be, perhaps a pavilion or band stand.
Ladies and gentlemen, what is left of what was supposedly the world’s largest concrete swimming pool. Nope. Just nope.
Still Animals in the Zoo
While I only managed to get photographs of two, I saw many critters on my visit. All the usual west Texas fauna was present.
I must admit, I don’t know what type of caterpillar this is.
Smooth, green snake. I can’t tell you how much I like these little docile bug-eaters. Good snek.
More to Say, I Have
There is some confusion and dispute surrounding the old Cisco Zoo. Its closure is commonly attributed to the death of a deer, and the poisoning of a bear by an unknown person. (If you recall, I mentioned the first animals at the zoo were a bear and a deer.) However, a newspaper article from around 1930 about the director of the zoo being in charge for six years and starting his seventh, mentions that the deer died four years prior to the article’s publication. It also mentions the bear that was poisoned by an unknown person, but the context implies it was much earlier than the article as well. The Zoo remained in business for more than a decade past the article’s publication date.
I transcribed the following blue text, myself, directly from the original article. There is no updated terminology or grammar per modern MLA standards. It is simply a verbatim copy of barely legible text from an almost 100-year-old piece of newsprint someone scanned. Sadly, I don’t know which paper it’s from, or the author to properly cite the source.
“STARTS SEVENTH YEAR AS SUPERINTENDENT OF ZOO“
“Dr. Charles H. Hale, who has been superintendent of the Cisco Zoo since it was first organized about 6 years ago and who has been responsible for its development into a modern small city menagerie, is starting his seventh year as superintendent. This year however, the zoo is under direct city control, having been transferred from the chamber of commerce through which it has been until this year maintained.
No institution that has been developed in Cisco has proved as attractive to visitors as has this. During the warm months of the year each Sunday and many of the week-days has found hundreds of people sightseeing around the zoo and at the lake, swimming pool and state fish hatchery which are near by. It is a peculiar fact that the majority of these people are from out of town. They are people who came here from cities throughout this section both for the drive and for the pleasure of watching the animals during leisure hours. There is no other zoo in this section and nothing like animals attracts the interest of people, particularly those with children. It has been a common thing to count more than 400 visitors during a Sunday afternoon at the grounds.
Started Under Dam
The zoo was started under the Lake Cisco dam, with the partitions under the big structure serving as a shelter for the cages. The menagerie was begun with the contribution of a deer by a Gorman man. This was the first animal received by the zoo and instantly interest in its development became warm. A Caddo woman contributed the first bear. The deer and the bear and other animals subsequently collected were kept under the dam for a year.
Later they were transferred to cages built in the bluff where the zoo is now located. The deer died four years ago and the bear was poisoned by an unknown person. But by that time the zoo had grown to something near its present proportions.
The latest addition to the cages is a large monkey cage which Keeper John McCleskey is building. Much of the material for this cage was contributed by E. M. Walker, of Cisco.
Organization of a zoological society to provide funds for additions and replacements of animals is being strongly advocated by Dr. Hale and by others, particularly women’s clubs, interested in the development of Cisco’s recreational facilities at the lake. Such a society is in prospect. It would take of the burden from public finances and at the same time enable the zoo officials to develop it to the fullest extent.
Cisco has no other attractions more than surrounding cities, it is pointed out, and consequently it should develop its zoo and Lake Cisco amusement facilities to the utmost. Dr Hale said today that the expense of operating the zoo would be cut considerably this year through economics that have been instituted.”
Link to page with old newspaper clipping:
https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/cisco-zoo-ruins-to-be-converted-into-hiking-trails/
List of sites used in writing this blog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco,_Texas
https://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/rivers/reservoirs/cisco/index.asp
