Today was the official grand opening of the Bob Jones Nature Center & Preserve. Many people have dedicated countless hours over the last 10 years to get to this point (well before I ever got involved). I joined the board in 2006 after spending several years prior volunteering and giving nature photography hikes in the woods surrounding what is now the BJNC&P.
The BJNC&P is part of the Cross Timbers ecosystem that stretches from Kansas to north-central Texas and includes the Southlake Cove sub-ecosystem.
The area offers over 150 species of birds over the yearly cycle. As development continues in the area, some of these species are slowly being pushed out of Southlake and cannot be observed in most of the city boundaries.
The Nature Center & Preserve is also home to many indigenous animals including white-tailed deer, gray fox, raccoon, and more. The forest transition zones at the park allow species of butterflies normally found farther south to occasionally appear in the park.
John Dolford (Bob) Jones was born June 16, 1850, near Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Leazer Alvis Jones and his slave, Elizabeth. In 1861, Leazer bought a 60-acre farm near Roanoke, Texas where Bob, his mother, and siblings worked until the end of the Civil War. After the war Bob and his brother bought the home place from their father. In 1869, Bob married Almeady Chisum. Eventually, with their 10 children, they owned over 1,000 acres of land east of Roanoke where they raised livestock and race horses.
In 1951, most of Jones’s land was submerged by the creation of Grapevine Lake and the completion of the Grapevine dam. In the mid-1990s, the City of Southlake took on an initiative to purchase much of the remaining land for a park. An unanimous decision by the City Council honored the memory of Bob Jones by naming the park after him.
Today the city leases over 200 acres of adjoining United States Corps of Engineers property and has purchased additional land that extends to the lakefront. Altogether, the park land represents nearly 500 acres of prime Eastern Cross Timbers habitat.
Today we dedicated the Bob Jones Nature Center & Preserve by opening a fully functional educational center with access to over 25 miles of trails.